Sustainable Solutions!

I recently read an article about an NGO called GivePower that is operating a solar-powered desalination plant in Kenya, in a region that is prone to severe drought. In layman’s terms: this plant uses solar panels to convert salt water into drinkable water, providing clean and safe water to 35,000 people a day. For those of us with easy access to potable water, this may not seem astounding. But unfortunately, 2.2 billion people around the globe still lack access to safe, drinkable water, many spending vast amounts of energy and time collecting water from sources far from their homes and communities. In Africa alone, women spend 40 billion hours per year collecting water, according to the UN.

We all deserve access to clean and safe drinking water, but the cost of providing it to communities in need is often prohibitive. With the GivePower plant in Kenya, it has been demonstrated that not only do we have the capacity to turn salt water into drinkable water, but also by using solar energy, we have the ability to do so in a cost-effective, ecological and sustainable manner.

At Impact Network, we also champion the ability of solar power to change lives. In an effort to conserve and protect the environment using cost-effective means, electricity in our schools is generated from solar power installed on the roofs. We purchase solar panels through a Zambian company, who provides the materials, installation, maintenance, and maintenance training for our staff. We use solar power to charge tablets, laptops, and projectors for our classrooms. We use solar power to help provide a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, quality education to the most remote and under-served areas of Zambia, impacting 25,000 lives in the process.

The solar-powered plant in Kenya is a big step forward in finding long-term, sustainable solutions to the issue of inadequate access to clean and safe drinking water— an issue that affects so many. And Impact Network’s use of solar panels in our schools is a demonstration of how technology-driven education can be accessed by even the most remote communities and schools, in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. What else can we achieve, what other global issues can we impact, if we continue to harness the power of solar energy in creative ways?

-Emma Rosche-Ritchie, Event and Communications Intern