In the Dark

Guess who was checking out our research plot! This is a male box turtle strolling along the forest floor.

On Wednesday this week, we had a power outage.

A six and a half hour power outage in the residence hall.

It began around 1:20 pm, right before our 1:30 pm lecture that was held on Zoom because of the guest speaker. The wifi was out too so we started class late. As student's computers started to die, they left their rooms to go to common areas where the professor had her zoom set up.

I had already been having a tough day, and my wonderful friend invited me over and surprised me with donuts. We spent the afternoon together attempting to do work and entertain ourselves, and soon it was dinner time. We were craving something hot for dinner, and to do that we would have to leave campus. My friends left and got dinner and milkshakes for the three of us (we finally tried Spelunker's), and I stayed behind to plug in all of our electronics in the one room on a generator. The room was originally off limits due to covid concerns. This issue was exacerbated by the current pandemic, but every inconvenience is.

But I had a lot of time to think; why was this power outage so disruptive to our day when it's a constant reality for some people to not have any power?

I remembered talking about areas without reliable electricity in AP Environmental Science, and thought about this incredible invention we were taught. A gravity light was invented to replace the need for kerosene light in developing and third world countries. A bag is filled with large rocks or heavy chunks of soil, and as the bag slowly falls to the earth, it generates electricity and turns on a LED light. This light lasts 20 minutes, and can be reused due to the rewind cord.

The Deciwatt company that makes and sells gravity lights also has a tab on their website for donations. It donates a nowlight to a household or organization. A nowlight is different from the gravity light, in that there is a cord you pull through the machine for one minute that charges up the light and can provide light for over 2 hours. This donation package also includes a solar panel. The solar panel has a USB charging port, so in case of a disaster, the sun can be used to charge electronics.

Creating things like this benefit people all over the world, but only if we make them available. These are incredible ideas for emergency or for areas with no reliable electricity, but they are expensive. To donate a single nowlight package, it is $60 USD. I implore that if that does not sound like too large of a donation to make that donation.

Another invention that is so incredibly important is the LifeStraw. LifeStraw includes a filter so small that it can filter out bacteria, reduce lead, and so on. One of my greatest areas of concern is that people have access to clean water, and this product can turn almost all freshwater into clean drinking water. The lead reducing bottle is of particular interest for me, because every single day I think about Flint, Michigan and how they do not have clean water yet. Settlements are being made to give monty to residents affected by the water, but the issue itself has still not been fixed. Mari Copeny is an incredible force for good, who raised money for Flint residents to get safe bottled water and uses her platform on Twitter to bring attention to this issue. She began fighting for this in 2016 at age 8, and is continuing it at her current age of 14. LifeStraw also gives back through orders, but also hosts a charity donation area on their website.

The most important takeaway is that these products shouldn't be necessary, as people should have access to necessities no matter their social identities. But while we wait for accessibility for all, inventions like these are important to support and share/donate.