Let there be light

As much as we occasionally yearn for complete silence, darkness and seclusion, as romantic as we find the night sky whose only source of light are its myriad twinkling stars: we just can’t imagine our daily lives without electricity. For 1.1 billion people on this earth, however, that is reality. They live in off-grid regions in Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe and other places without stable electricity. And in most cases, it has nothing to do with romanticism. They jeopardize their health in the light of toxic paraffin lamps, mobile phones that can’t be charged stand in the way of networking and obstruct access to learning opportunities, medical care and information. Icelandic artist Olafur Eliason has been dealing critically with topics such as climate, weather and natural spectacles in his art for years and is now attending to this electric emergency with a pragmatic and hands-on attitude. Together with the engineer and entrepreneur Frederik Ottensen, he developed the social business „Little Sun“ and went global. It’s not just about organizing funds and help, but also about producing locally and creating real alternatives. With their eponymous solar LED-lamp that can provide artificial light for up to 50 hours after charging sunlight for 5 hours, Little Sun not only provides practical pleasure but also enables children in areas lacking electricity to finish their homework after dusk, for example. In April, Little Sun lamp will be joined by the extremely powerful Little Sun Charge, that not only shines a light but also, thanks to solar power, charges mobile phones or other small electronic devices. Half a day of sunlight is enough to fully charge two mobile phones. Activities bound to electricity, such as gathering information, bank transfers or contacting doctors, are suddenly made possible for so many people. Little Sun works with a solidarity concept: anyone who buys a Little Sun product (for a read in their sleeping bag on the next camping trip, for example) helps to provide lamps and chargers at a fair price in regions without electricity. And because we are such fans of this, we won’t be giving away one of these practical gadgets today but will provide you with this link.
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Little Sun | Little Sun Lamp 22 Euro | Little Sun Charge 99 Euro | www.littlesun.com | Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson | Little Sun