They do exist!
As the dozens of followers of this blog know, I believe the whole "green" movement is nothing but an attempt for some people to tell others how to live, and for those in power to make their friends rich (ah la Solyndra). In Manila, however, a few entrepreneurs have found a market for a true Green job.
The people installing these devices make about a dollar a "light" which has helped many of them create a business for themselves, allowing them to support their family just by installing these. No government "loan" or supplement, or tax break needed. Just someone coming up with an idea and selling it. Capitalism helping the poor and providing a service the Phillipene government could not, and something our government would regulate and not allow because it would not be up to "Code".
Shanty town homes in Manila are often built so close to each other that they have no windows or natural light. With electricity unaffordable or unavailable for many slum-inhabitants, many families often have to work, do chores, and eat in near darkness.
Now a simple innovation called the "Solar Bottle Bulb" is popping out of roofs and illuminating the lives of many.
Fixed into holes in a corrugated iron roof, the "bulb" is a recycled plastic bottle that contains bleached water. Bringing more light than a traditional window that can crack or leak during typhoon season, the bottle bulbs refract the sun's rays to create 55-watts worth of light.
The people installing these devices make about a dollar a "light" which has helped many of them create a business for themselves, allowing them to support their family just by installing these. No government "loan" or supplement, or tax break needed. Just someone coming up with an idea and selling it. Capitalism helping the poor and providing a service the Phillipene government could not, and something our government would regulate and not allow because it would not be up to "Code".
posted by davis14633 at 07:19
3 Comments:
Sometimes "not up to code" seems to be "code" for I didn't get my palm greased sufficiently. Or maybe I am being cynical. :)
Dozens?
Yes, DOZENS! As in over 24 real, breathing people. Your cynical slight of this blog's booming readership has not gone unnoticed, sirrah! (It is, however, expected. This is Cynicism Central, after all.) =oP
As to Mad Builder's cynical views of the construction industry... There's actually very little of that "palm greasing" going on here in the Houston area construction industry, and by extension Texas at large. (Professional competence of building officials is a different matter which I won't touch on here, in the interest of keeping my blood pressure in check...) What there is of such unethical behavior is mostly confined to major infrastructure projects -- meaning freeways in this area. Up north, however, I have it on good authority that it's a much more common practice.
Prior to the Late Unpleasantness, most major projects in the Northeast were pretty much in the pockets of union companies. Lately, however, economic realities have forced a return to baseline -- meaning a great many union contractors have gone out of business, or at the very least into receivership. Or worse, they've come carpetbagging down here into MY market... *grumble*mumble*gripe*
Overseas, as you are well aware, is Whole Nother Bag O' Cash. Official corruption is what passes for government in most of the Indian subcontinent and large chunks of the Pacific Rim.
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