Tuesday, 14 May 2013, 3:26 pm
Press Release: Women in Business Development

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: 14 May 2013

HEADLINE: Solar lights to live by

Women in Business President Sheree Stehlin (left), Apia Rotarian Robyn O’Dell and Malie farmer Ioane Paulo (front) show off a six pack of solar-powered lights.

Rotarian Robyn O’Dell says the solar-powered lights should improve the quality of life for families without power and reduce power bills for other families.

“We also see the lights increasing safety in the home by replacing kerosene lamps,” says O’Dell.

She says these solar lights have been used in renewable energy projects in Papua New Guinea with great success, and it was the first time they were being offered in Polynesia.

The sturdy Flexiway lights are sold individually and can be clicked together to form larger units. On a full charge, the powerful 9cmx9cm lights will give off six to eight hours of light or up to 12-15 hours on the 50 per cent setting.

“We received seed funding Rotary groups in Australia and Apia Rotary covered the wharf costs,” says O’Dell. “Now, Women in Business will begin to sell the lights to families across Samoa for a small price.” She says the proceeds from the lights, which are being discounted to farming families at $20, will be used buy more lights to help more families in Samoa.

Ioane Paulo, a vegetable farmer from Malie, was the first recipient to receive the lights last week. His family lives in three Samoan fale and use a mixture of kerosene lamps and electric lights.

“We had no power for weeks after Tropical Cyclone Evan and we often have power cuts in our area so we have to use the hurricane lamps,” says Paulo. “We are so grateful to Rotary and Women in Business for thinking of us and I congratulate them for bringing a project like this to Samoa, because we are not able to buy lights like these here.”

Paulo said he felt “blessed” to be the first family to have the lights and they came at good time because of Mother’s Day.

Women in Business president Sheree Stehlin also thanked O’Dell and Rotary for their initiative. “Lighting is very important for our people, especially for our children who do their homework at night.” “We commend Rotary for this project and for all the work they do in the community.”

ENDS

(This post - Solar lights to live by in Polynesia - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

Dear Harry, this is the first of our irregular newsletters. Soon we will have some more great news to announce, for now please read about our international shop, the Economist article about us and the recent AId Expo Awards! World Wide Shop now open Get your 6-pack anywhere in the world and donate lights! Until last month we could only send out our Solar Muscles within Australia due to postal limitations on sending batteries abroad. Now e have partnered up with DHL who has given us special rates, so we can now send your order anywhere in the world! Shipping within Australia is still free, and we have discounted the DHL rates by $15/shipment, so you can get a 6-pack including delivery for as little as AUD $99 + $14 shipping to the USA (about USD 120). Please check out the new Flexiway Solar Muscle shop here. You can order your 6-pack (and one light will be donated), or donate a single light or donate a 6-pack! Don’t get caught in another power outage (Hurricane Sandy, anyone?), or use your lights to lower your electricity bills. Some have earned back their lights within months! They are also great for photographers and for outdoor usage. They make a perfect X-mas present, so get yours today! For every 6-pack sold, we donate one extra light to projects in PNG, Fiji or Rwanda on your behalf! Get yours now! Solar Muscle featured in Economist Magazine Our Solar Muscle lights have seen great coverage in an Economist Magazine’s article, read more about it here. “Flexiway, an Australian-Argentine maker of solar lamps, found in its trials in Tanzania that households often spent more than 10% of their income on kerosene, and other studies have put the figure as high as 25%. And kerosene does not merely eat up household income that could be spent on other things. It is also dangerous. Kerosene lanterns, a century-old technology, are fire hazards.” read more Solar’s Solar Muscle is Aid Expo finalist Our small solar-powered LED light, the Solar Muscle, was one of only 4 finalists chosen for the Aid Expo innovation Award ceremony which was held recently. In the end the award itself went to Divyesh Thakkar who presented another solar light which costs much more, is larger and more breakable, but also charges phones. Read more here. You can click your 6-pack of Solar Muscles together or use them separately! Copyright © 2012 Flexiway Solar Solutions, All rights reserved.(You are receiving this email because you opted in at Flexiwaysolar.com)Our mailing address is: Flexiway Solar Solutions 34 Summit Drive Springfield Lake, Queensland 4300 Australia Add us to your address book

(This post - Newsletter X-mas 2012 - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

Here is our founder James during his presentation of the Solar Muscle to the audience and jury. He is still around in Brussels for the next days, so let us know if you want to meet to discuss opportunities!

James Fraser from Flexiway Solar at the Aid Expo, demonstrating the Solar Muscle light

We congratulate Divyesh and are sure that both our lights will help getting people out of poverty by replacing kerosene lamps. It is great to see that Aid Expo has recognized the importance of light for the delivery of international Aid. Please see the Awards backgrounds and the 4 finalists here. Our Solar Muscle is the smallest and lightest but also strongest light available and therefore perfect for Aid Organisations. It is weatherproof and fits nearly 3000 lights in a cubic metre!

Contact us here if you are an NGO and want to know how we can help you or here if you want to know more or order our lights.

(This post - Flexiway Solar’s Solar Muscle is Aid Expo finalist - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

The full article can be found online here: www.economist.com/node/21560983, here are the introduction and some quotes:

WHICH plastic gadget, fitting neatly in one hand, can most quickly improve the lives of the world’s poorest people? For the past decade the answer has been clear: the mobile phone. But over the next decade it will be the solar-powered lamp, made up of a few light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a solar panel and a small rechargeable battery, encased in a durable plastic shell. Just as the spread of mobile phones in poor countries has transformed lives and boosted economic activity, solar lighting is poised to improve incomes, educational attainment and health across the developing world.

Flexiway Solar Muscle solar-powered LED lights in Papua New Guinea

As previously happened with mobile phones, solar lighting is falling in price, improving in quality and benefiting from new business models that make it more accessible and affordable to those at the bottom of the pyramid. And its spread is sustainable because it is being driven by market forces, not charity.

Phones spread quickly because they provided a substitute for travel and poor infrastructure, helped traders find better prices and boosted entrepreneurship. For a fisherman or a farmer, buying a mobile phone made sense because it paid for itself within a few months. The economic case for solar lighting is even clearer: buying a lamp that charges in the sun during the day, and then produces light at night, can eliminate spending on the kerosene that fuels conventional lamps. Of the 1.4 billion people without access to grid electricity, most live in equatorial latitudes where the sun sets quickly and there is only a brief period of twilight. But solar lamps work anywhere the sun shines, even in places that are off the grid, or where grid power is expensive or unreliable.

Flexiway, an Australian-Argentine maker of solar lamps, found in its trials in Tanzania that households often spent more than 10% of their income on kerosene, and other studies have put the figure as high as 25%. And kerosene does not merely eat up household income that could be spent on other things. It is also dangerous. Kerosene lanterns, a century-old technology, are fire hazards.

The Solar Muscle, a solar lamp made by Flexiway, can be used as a desk light. Its compact, square design, with a solar panel on one side and LEDs on the other, also allows several lamps to be snapped together to make a larger panel. The square design arose after an earlier, circular version was mistaken for a landmine, says James Fraser of Flexiway. The firm can pack 2,750 of its $10 lamps in a cubic metre—a plus in countries where transport is expensive. They are being distributed by NGOs in Papua New Guinea and several African countries.

Most solar lamps allow the battery to be replaced once it wears out, and some (such as Flexiway’s) use standard-sized rechargeable batteries to make replacement as simple as possible. But this creates a new pollution problem: there are no facilities to recycle the old batteries. Flexiway suggests that entrepreneurs selling rechargeable batteries could offer a discount when old batteries were traded in and gather them up for centralised recycling, but it is unclear whether this model would work.

Demand for cheap, efficient lighting is only going to grow. Even in the best-case scenarios, the number of people without electricity will tick up to 1.5 billion by 2030, as population growth outstrips electrification. The rate of innovation in delivery models, technology and design, in both rich and poor countries, suggests a bright future for solar lamps—and a slow dimming of kerosene’s flame.

The full article can be found online here: www.economist.com/node/21560983, please read it and share it with your friends!

(This post - The Economist magazine: Lighting the Way – about Flexiway and solar lights - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

Letter from Salome from PNG to thank for the flexiway solar muscle LED light (click to enlarge)

This week we received a great letter and a photo from one of the children whose family has received our light. It is stories like these that make us proud of our accomplishments and keep us going forward!

You can support the KTF and our projects (and yourself!) by buying a 6-pack of lights in our Shop if you are in Australia (or you can send it as a gift to your Australian friends!).

For every 6-pack sold Flexiway Solar will donate one extra light to the Kokoda Track Foundation.

Here is Salomi’s letter, thank you for writing!

 Wednesday …

The use of the solar light

We highly appreciate the KTF for funding us with solar light.

In the previous years we have been using money to buy battery at the store to use torch. Since we got the solar light, all student at primary school, adult and elderly people got one each. Student use it for study and homework at home during night and mothers use the light to cook, serve food or to make for small kids during night.

Flexiway Solar Muscle solar-powered LED lights in Papua New Guinea

Elderly people those who can’t find money to buy battery or kerosin for herican (?) lamps, now easily use solar lights.

We really appreciate the KTF for funding us with solar light, which improved our life style.

Name: Salomi – Arewa

School: Botue Elementary

KTF Teacher Participant.

Please check out this post to learn more about our Kokoda Track project, so see photos or the video report!

(This post - A letter from PNG - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

The online shop for Australia is open! Now you can save $$$ on your electricity bill while doing your part for the environment…

10 years ago I used to leave the water running while brushing my teeth, now I wouldn’t think of it. I used to leave my lights on when going out, now I wouldn’t dream of it!

What changed?

I guess over the years I’ve been educated how the small day-to-day changes I make can leave our planet a little better off…  These days I find not only am I trying to do my bit to help the environment, but I am trying to do it in conjunction with reducing my day to day cost of living. With water, electricity, food and many other basic costs of living going up, I think many of us are looking for ways to reduce our costs such as electricity bills.

The sunny side of it

Electricity companies continually increase their prices and with the recent introduction of the carbon tax, increased costs are hitting our hip pockets.

A few years ago I changed my light bulbs to energy-saving lights, to help the environment and my hip pocket.  12 months ago I took the next step and let the sun start creating more savings for our household.  While large solar installations are still expensive, I have found that smaller portable solar lights like the Solar Muscle can make a big and direct difference in costs!

How much could you save?

I have been using the Solar Muscle for my home lighting for the past 12 months and have taken my daily usage from $4.40 per day to $1.20. My friend Aletia took hers down from $6.71 to $4.71.

For more information on how we reduced your cost, or to purchase your own 6-pack of solar lights, go to www.Flexiwaysolar.com/shop. While the regular price is $125.00 + shipping, I am doing a pre-sale price for family and friends for AU$99.00 which includes shipping and delivery (only in Australia). If you save as much as we did, you could recover your initial outlay for the lights in 1-2 months in energy savings!

Help others at the same time

Additionally, for every 6-pack sold, 1 extra light will be donated to the Kokoda Track Foundation for their PNG project. So you are not only helping your wallet and the planet, but are helping to light up another family’s life!  To find out more about the PNG project click here for photos and a video

We need your help

As we all know, nothing is for nothing, so in return for this discount I hope you can do me a favour: please spread the word by forwarding this to your friends, posting it on FaceBook, Twitter, G+ etc . I also need to do my FAQ page and we are looking for more testimonials, photos of the lights in use and success stories of savings, so please send through any feedback or questions you might have!

Cheers

Nicky

PS: Please fell free to share this email and the shop page (www.Flexiwaysolar.com/shop) with your friends, in fact we would really appreciate that!

Nicky Fraser
Life Improver, Flexiway Solar Solutions

*** UPDATE: the Solar Muscles can now be shipped worldwide! Check out the Solar lights shop here and order your 6-pack or donate light to our projects! ***

(This post - Buy a 6-pack now and save: Australian shop open - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

The awards were focused on Australian business rather than our impact in the rest of the world, so we were pleasantly surprised to see we got through to the final 3! It was really special as we were in the ‘up to 50 employees’ category, so a lot of great businesses to compete against.

Queensland Sustainability Award finalist badge for FlexiWay Solar!

See also the finalists page on the official website here.

The introductory blurb about us was:

FINALIST—Flexiway Solar Solutions

Flexiway Solar Solutions has developed a small, light weight solar light called the ‘Solar Muscle’, that provides twice as much light as a kerosene lamp which are still used in developing countries.

The lights are being distributed to areas of need by non-government organisations. The solar muscle can be sold and air freighted anywhere in the world for under $10 per unit. For every six kerosene lamps that are replaced by solar muscle lights one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions are saved.

Thanks to the QLD sustainability awards for this! If you know of any other award that we should be applying for, please let us know!

(This post - FlexiWay Solar finalist at annual QLD sustainability awards! - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

Lighting up the Kokoda Track: the video

This is a segment of Australia’s Channel 10′s The Project, which they generously shared with us. The photos are mostly screenshots from Channel 10′s video report, additional pictures and the press release supplied by the KTF, all rights reserved.

(The segment is 5 minutes, the part about the lights starts at 1’50”)

Here are some screenshots of the happy villagers and thankful kids who can study again, KTF’s director Dr Genevieve Nelson and Mr Bede Tongs, WWII veteran. (c) Channel 10, Australia.

The project: lighting up the Track

The Kokoda Track Foundation, is commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the WWII Kokoda campaign by providing 3500 solar lights to the descendants of the legendary Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels who helped out the Australian soldiers so much when needed. The KTF aims to give a solar-powered LED light to every villager along the Kokoda Track, an area without access to electricity.

“This project is a game changer. It will dramatically improve people’s lives in ways many Australians will find difficult to imagine,” KTF chairman, Patrick Lindsay, said today.“It will mean villages will no longer have to live by the dull glow of their camp fires after sundown. It will enable school students to read books and do their homework after dark for the first time in their lives. It will allow families to prepare and eat their dinner in safety and comfort.”

Partners bringing light

The KTF has partnered with Brisbane-based social enterprise, FlexiWay Solar, to source the solar lights, which were developed in Australia and Argentina and made in China. The lights are weatherproof, dust-proof and shock-proof and will last for 8 hours on full power and 15 hours on half power on a full day’s solar charge. Individual lights can be clicked together to illuminate larger dwellings, schoolrooms and community halls.

One of the heroes of the Kokoda campaign, Mr Bede Tongs MM, a platoon commander in the 3rd Battalion during the battles in the area 70 years ago, delivered the first solar lights to Koko village, near Kokoda, this week. Mr Tongs also presented graduation certificates to 56 teachers who qualified for an Elementary Teaching Certificate last week by completing a six-week course run by the KTF in Koko village.

“It was an honour to bring some light to the lives of the families of the men who helped us all those years ago,” Mr Tongs said. “I was overwhelmed by the welcome I received from both the villagers and the graduates,” Mr Tongs added. “I felt I was representing my comrades, especially those who did not return home with us. ”I’m sure the new teachers will make a huge difference in improving the prospects of the coming generations of people from the area and the lights will change lives dramatically.”

A great challenge with great success

The Foundation has just returned from Papua New Guinea where it delivered 3,500 solar lights to more than 30 villages throughout the catchment area – giving every adult living along the Kokoda Track a source of light.

The Foundation travelled by foot, road, air and water into the communities across the Oro and Central Provinces and engaged local volunteers and porters to assist in delivering the lights. Villages that previously had no access to lighting now have multiple light sources for every household in the village.

Lighting up the developing world

Solar lighting projects across the developing world have been shown to have numerous benefits for families and communities including alleviating poverty, promoting health benefits, preventing fire hazards, and enabling educational opportunities.

Villages reported that the lights will make a vital contribution to their livelihoods and will enable them move around their village after dark in safety, to work on small businesses for longer, and to give their children more time to complete their homework and studies after dark. Schools and community halls in the region are reporting running classes after hours and having the ability to offer up more training than before.

Partnering with Flexiway Solar Solutions, the Foundation has delivered 3,500 solar lights which have the ability to click together so that families can come together at night and share meals and participate in community meetings – under a panel of solar bright enough to light a community hall or school classroom!

The Foundation is relying on the generous support of its Trek Operator Partners to fund this program and distribute the lights. Click here to see who was helping us to Light Up The Track!

What is the Kokoda Track?

The Kokoda Trail or Track is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs 96 kilometres (60 mi) overland — 60 kilometres (37 mi) in a straight line — through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea. The track is the most famous in Papua New Guinea and is known for being the location of the World War II battle between Japanese and Australian forces in 1942. (WikiPedia article)

Who is the Kokoda Track Foundation?

As you can read on our Partners page:

The Kokoda Track Foundation is an Australian philanthropic organisation which aims to repay the selfless help given to Australia during WWII by the ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’ of Papua New Guinea by helping to improve the lives and futures of their descendants.

It does that by assisting with their education and healthcare, by trying to protect their environment, by helping to foster the growth of an eco-friendly trekking and tourism industry from which they can benefit, by working to keep the story of Kokoda alive, and by seeking to identify and foster the next generation of PNG leaders.

Who is FlexiWay Solar?

Flexiway Solar Solutions wants to improve the lives of our fellow human beings by replacing dangerous and expensive kerosene lamps by affordable Solar-powered LED lights, creating a brighter future for everybody on our planet.

FSS has designed the Solar Muscle, the highest yet affordable quality solar lamp available on the planet. FSS works with NGOs and other partners to deliver these lights to those who need it.

Together with the KTF, FSS designed the PNG project, delivered 3000 lights for the lowest price possible and donated 500 additional lights, thanks to our supporters who donated through our IndieGoGo project as well as directly.

The KTF and FSS will keep on working together to brighten up the lives of the people of Papua New Guinea even more in the future. Contact Flexiway Solar solutions to see how we can bring light to your projects as well.

(This post - Lighting up PNG: Kokoda Track Foundation and Flexiway Solar - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

We have also translated the video in Spanish and uploaded the HD version, so please share it with your Spanish speaking friends as well!

English version, HD:

Version en Espanol, HD:

You can use the Share button on YouTube (also available when you hover your mouse over the videos) of the big share button on the right side of this blog. Share it through FaceBook, Twitter, G+, Stumble Upon and more!

(This post - Flexiway in HD, English and Spanish - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)

“It’s not that easy bein’ green/ Having to spend each day the color of the leaves/ When I think it could be nicer bein’ red or yellow or gold/ Or something much more colorful like that”

Kermit the frog on Sesame Street, 1970 (words by Joe Raposo)

If you are reading this, then you probably like all things ‘green’. But are you green? It is not easy to define green, let alone “bein’ it” as Kermit sang. Green has historically been used to describe money in a negative way, inexperienced people and even the devil. Not a particularly happy team to be associated with, especially being a small melancholic frog.

However, green is also the color of the forests that give us life-bringing oxygen and has therefore been used as inspiration for green politics and green economy.
You are a positive person and know that the past generations have made quite a mess of our planet. Inequality and pollution are just a few examples of things gone horribly wrong on a global scale. You choose to be green instead. Or do you?

‘Green Economy: Does it include you?’

This is the 2012 theme for the UNEP World Environment Day.

Green is all around us

The earth used to be green and now the ‘Green’ movement now has gone global as well, returning the favor.

The leading green principles according to the Global Greens Charter are:
• Ecological wisdom
• Social justice
• Participatory democracy
• Nonviolence
• Sustainability
• Respect for diversity

Based on this, the green movement cannot exist without you or me. Thinking globally, acting locally is a key part of being Green. You cannot be green without actively being involved. Cutting down on waste and inefficiency won’t be enough, I am afraid. We will need to act to make the entire economy green and turn this ship around.

So what should you do to get involved and included in the Green economy?

“The UN Environment Programme defines the Green Economy as one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.(…) A green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.” (UNEP)

If you are an entrepreneur, start a green business. Show that Green is good for the economy: it benefits us all and it can create a sustainable income for you and many others.

Everybody is part of the green economy

If you don’t have the chance to start a green business, then support ones who do. Buy green and sustainable products and eat food that is made in a way that does not harm the environment (nor you!).

The main point is to Vote Green. Not just on the ballot to make sure that public parks stay public and green, though that is important. Also use the strong voting power of capitalist economies: the ‘green’ in your pocket.

If nobody buys fruits with pesticides, they won’t be grown. You will save more on medical bills than you spend extra on the farmers market, while helping out small companies instead of large investor-owned mega ones.

If everybody wants solar-panels instead of coal-powered energy, then they will be produced more cheaply, lowering your own energy bill, while saving the planet. Buy a solar-powered lamp and donate one to a family in the developing world, helping you both as well as our planet in more ways than one.

Green voting is good for you, it makes you green. You are a shareholder of our planet, so the green economy includes you by definition. Now is the time to become green and to get return on your investment.

This green essay was written for the World Environment Day (WED) blogging competition by Treehugger and the UNEP. Harry Kikstra is founder of FlexiWay Solar, replacing kerosene lamps with solar-powered LED lights. Harry votes Green all the time and has cycled from Alaska – Patagonia.

About World Environment Day 2012
2012 is the 40th anniversary for World Environment Day, since the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1972. Celebrating World Environment Day is about the inspirational power of individual action that, collectively, is multiplied into an exponential force that can effect positive change.

PS: and for those as melancholic as Kermit, check this out:

(This post - It’s not easy being green - is posted on -Flexiway Solar - Solar-powered LED Lights)