An estimated 3.3 million deaths have been linked to indoor air pollution in the Southeast Asian and Western Pacific regions. Another 2.6 million have been linked to outdoor air pollution. Further examination between air and human deaths in these regions has shown that negligence isn’t to blame for poor air quality. Rather, cultures here lack knowledge and technological resources available to mitigate loss of life and health risks.
Families in these regions tend to be poverty-stricken. They’re under-consumers surviving off the bare minimum. They prepare food using solid fuels, coal, dung and agricultural byproducts, all of which contribute to indoor air pollution. Not because they refuse to have cleaner air, but because that’s what they have to work with and all they’ve possibly known how to do for generations. If they’re aware they could change their circumstances with cleaner, safer technology, you could be sure they would. However, they’re doing what they’re doing because there’s really no other alternative for them at the moment.
Organizations like WHO cannot chastise the world about air pollution, demand people clean up their act, and then fail to provide some guidelines on how to do so. They also cannot demand changes without looking at the entire situation. People in the most polluted areas aren’t deliberately trying to harm anyone; they’re simply trying to survive! They are using their natural resources to the best of their ability to eat and stay warm. They don’t have access to modern technology and clean energy. They’ve never felt the refreshing chill of central air on a hot summer day or the cozy warmth of being at home on a cold winter evening. At the end of the day, the answer is in providing a valuable solution to help these people improve the quality of their lives all around.
Fortunately, while WHO puts together some solutions necessary for saving our air, there are some proactive revolutionaries who aren’t waiting to take action. Take Catlin Powers and One Earth Designs, for example. Powers is a Harvard candidate for a Ph.D. in environmental health. She’s also cofounder of One Earth Designs, a company specializing in consumer product designs that promote wise use of energy resources, like SolSource.
SolSource is One Earth Designs’ sun-powered grill. SolSource is portable, durable and free of fuel or emissions. Families using SolSource can use this innovative product to grill, steam, bake, boil or fry. It’s genius because it’s high-powered, yet low-maintenance. It harnesses the sun’s energy to provide delicious food preparation without reliance upon fuels that impact air or health.
Can you imagine the impact SolSource could have in places like India, where per WHO, “an estimated 700 million people are thought to still use solid fuels and traditional cook stoves” despite the horrible impact it has on health and air quality? How SolSource could positively impact families in the Himalayas – families whose indoor pollution is 10 times higher than air in Beijing’s outdoors? Would it be too optimistic to trust that continued implementation and development of products like SolSource could positively lessen the half a million Chinese deaths killed from toxic smoke emanating from domestic stoves used for cooking food and keeping warm?
One Earth Designs recently ended a highly successful Kickstarter campaign that funded 330 percent of its campaign goal. Earnings acquired are being allocated to fund SolSource production as well as exploration for innovative versions that offset costs for developing nations.
In the midst of urging us to donate shoes, water and rice to people in need in poverty stricken areas, maybe WHO should be encouraged to donate SolSources as well. They’re only $399; a full kit costs $536. Broken down to less than $1.50 per day, you – or anyone – can donate one to a community or family in need. Perhaps this can help us take action to clean up indoor air pollution in places that need it most?