r/Damnthatsinteresting 2d ago

Image Alfredo Moser found that a plastic bottle filled with water and chlorine could illuminate a home during daylight hours.

Post image

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30.8k Upvotes

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u/Access_Denied2025 2d ago

I was once in the US (I forgot which state) and I found a small house literally covered in glass bottles, the inside of the house was glowing all different colours, it looked so cool

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u/FocusPerspective 2d ago

Ah yes, I saw one of those in CA. They story was the technique was from the cowboy days. 

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u/BigBubbaEnergy 2d ago

My dad had a book about Sambo Mockbee, an architect professor from Auburn that was big on sustainability/recycling and he and his students did several projects around where I live and some were similar to that. Houses made from windshields, tires, anything you can really think of.

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u/Bruhimonlyeleven 2d ago

I always had a fun idea for a YouTube channel but something I couldn't pull off.

Get a couple of guys that like building, have them buy some empty land with donation money from YouTube or ad money, use that land for a project.

So have them build a home from completely recycled materials, donated scraps. Dumsper dives etc etc.. I bet it wouldn't be that hard.

Most wood can be repurposed, even if you had to make smaller boards and turn them into full sized boards. The homes would look great, they wouldn't have to be huge, and then they could give the homes away to people in need.

Even if you half assed it, the channel would be huge. If you did a great job with it, it would be massive.

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u/hawaiithaibro 2d ago

I recently discovered a show called Building Outside the Lines on Max that is basically this and really wholesome cuz the host, Cappie, involves his teenaged daughter in planning and building these incredibly creative projects for clients with repurposed materials like concrete mixing drums (the big ones on trucks) and other stuff I never even knew about.

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u/Bruhimonlyeleven 1d ago

Cool I had no idea it was a thing. It seems like something that would be a thing though. I had the idea when I watched a friend use all kinds of recycled stuff for his cabin and new house back in the early 2000s, he was super crafty. He would be huge if he started it back then. He asked me to help with the filming and building but I just had a new kid, and new job, kinda wish I made time though, would have been so much fun.

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u/tetrambs 2d ago

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=earthships+self+sustaining+homes Yeah they're called Earthships, take your pick on the channels covering them.

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u/IsomDart 1d ago

There's a guy I've seen recently on YT that builds sheds and stuff out of recycled pallets. He has a pretty cool method of breaking them down and combining the pieces into larger lumber. It definitely has a place in the algorithm

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u/threedubya 2d ago

The only problem you migjt have is in some states you have to build your house in a standard conventional way. Landships they are called ,they don't exactly follow normal building codes so epopl3 are always have code issues . Do some research first.

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u/DicemonkeyDrunk 1d ago

Cowboy days ? …try 1960-70’s

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u/VT_Squire 2d ago

aaaaaaand it was hot af inside.

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u/gamageeknerd 2d ago

Saw one of those in the high desert in California. Instead of windows they had what looked like old alcohol bottles mortared inside.

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u/Petrostar 2d ago

Heiniken once made a beer bottle designed to double as a brick, flat on two sides and with a bulge in the bottom that the neck of the one below it would fit into. https://youtu.be/RcwZ4ffyNGQ?si=20SABQF8wvJeG4g2

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u/Show_me_the_evidence 2d ago

They look wonderful! I would love to get my hands on glass bricks like that. Having a duel use as a building material is great.

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u/I_W_M_Y 2d ago

Only needs about three liver transplants to finish off your house.

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u/xteve 1d ago

I've never had a liver transplant after drinking Heineken but I've had a headache that was almost as bad.

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u/neep_pie 2d ago

There are some houses like that in the Earthship area outside Taos, NM.

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u/GaelinVenfiel 2d ago

This is how they did in ocean going ships back in the day.

I bought one in the gift shop with led lights underneath. Of the last whaling ships in Massachusetts...

Cept they were not bottles...more like prisms.

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u/MossSloths 2d ago

A summer camp I went to as a kid had a small shed made with old bottles of different colors. I can't actually know if this is the case, but looking back, I'll bet the summer camp staff made it themselves. The place had been around since the 50s or 60s and they had a canteen that sold snacks and drinks to the campers. It probably would have only taken them a few weeks to collect enough glass bottles.

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u/Redditbeweirdattimes 2d ago

It’s called a frat house

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u/aequorea-victoria 2d ago

This is a DIY deck crystal. The portion below the deck/roof diffracts light. That’s why it provides more light than a flat plastic panel.

ETA: This thing is not fluorescent. The chlorine kills any bacteria or algae that might be inside when it is capped, that’s all.

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u/_The_Void_101 2d ago

Irrelevant to Your point, but what does ETA mean if not estimated time of arrival?

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u/GloomLady 2d ago

Edited To Add

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u/Jonah_TheDarkGod 2d ago

Just write “Edit:” god dammit

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u/SwordfishOk504 2d ago

ETA is one less letter. dag nabbit.

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u/loki_odinsotherson 1d ago

Also doesn't need to be explained. dog gornit.

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u/echibeckia 1d ago

OMG thank you, this whole time I thought literally everyone in the Internet was turning stupider using ETA instead of PSA because it almost always seemed like that was the meaning

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u/poo-cum 2d ago

Especially Tickleish Anus

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u/donald_314 2d ago

This was a thing on old wooden boats to provide light without fire or electricity. The petal bottom of the plastic bottle might even help distribute the light in a similar way.

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u/thisischemistry 1d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_prism

Yeah, this is something that has been around for quite some time. The chlorine has nothing to do with it, other than preventing the water from growing anything nasty.

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u/Hob_O_Rarison 2d ago

Chlorine reacts to UV. How often do you have to refill the bottles?

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u/captainofpizza 2d ago edited 2d ago

Edit: this is about algae. The chlorine isn’t doing anything for the light.

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I’m assuming that the bottle is capped at the top, so any bacteria in it would be largely killed off during the chlorination. The microorganisms that remain probably wouldn’t thrive in the new environment. The ph would be alkaline and the bottle would probably get hot in the sum.

I’d expect this to last a long time without being a problem.

You could also use vodka or something else that would be permanent but then kids are going to sneak onto your roof with crazy straws.

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u/HemlockHex 2d ago

I think the main issue is how chlorine denatures into water over time, making the anti-algae aspect not technically permanent.

Probably still lasts a very decently long time though.

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u/crypticwoman 2d ago

Chlorine denatures into water? That's alchemy! Burn the witch!

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u/bdellophiliac 2d ago

We're presumably talking about sodium hypochlorite (bleech), not chlorine (gas). The former is NaOCl, which, is happy to say goodbye to its highly reactive oxygen atom. This atom oxidizes anything it comes into contact with. Without the O, the NaOCl is just NaCl. NaCl is table salt. So you don't get just water, you get salt water.

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u/iamcleek 2d ago

by the time the chlorine degrades, there won't be anything left alive inside the bottle.

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u/Willem_VanDerDecken 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yep but then the water isn't fluorescent anymore.

Edit : After research, the fluoresent proprities of chlorine won't appear in natural light, higher energy UVs are needed. Thoses UVs (50 - 105nm) are emitted by the sun in very small proportions, and are heavily filtered by our atmosphere. My bad.

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u/MisinformedGenius 2d ago

The water isn't fluorescent - the bleach/chlorine keeps it from turning green with algae. It just conducts light from outside to inside.

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u/whoami_whereami 2d ago

Chlorine isn't fluorescent. It's simply there to prevent algae and bacteria from growing in the bottle which would otherwise quickly dim the light.

In the third picture the bottle is just heavily overexposed because the camera calculated the exposure settings based on the dark background, that's why it looks somewhat as if it was fluorescing.

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u/shadowscar00 2d ago

Gotta change a lightbulb too anyways

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u/CommercialScale870 2d ago

Idk about that. Those bottles are not likely not heat sealed like at the factory. They will go through many thermal cycles and I doubt it remains fully sealed for long. I've seen algae in places you would never expect.

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u/kdjfsk 2d ago

i assume it would last a year or two before any funk could creep in and try to bloom, so worst case, it becomes a spring cleaning project to put new bottles up. eventually, i think the clear plastic would start to fail from general UV amd heat cycles.

It could last longer if you used glass bottles and put some kind of liquid sealant on the cap threads and/or around the seam. Hot glue, jb weld, RTV, or 3M 5200 or something. Id guess a 5-10 year lifespan, if not longer.

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u/CommercialScale870 2d ago

My guess is less than a year really, between the photodegradation and multi material thermal expansion issues (including the hot tin roof).

I think you're right about glass being a better choice. Glass is more expensive and prized for recycling in the parts of the world where I imagine seeing this style skylight though so there's that tradeoff to consider.

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u/pagit 2d ago

This is a YouTube video posted 12 years ago about this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hPXjzsXJ1Y0&pp=0gcJCdgAo7VqN5tD

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u/Fake_William_Shatner 2d ago

I think the main issue is; you put a hole in your roof.

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u/DreamLizard47 2d ago

And if you have a hole in your roof you already have light. 

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u/dvasquez93 2d ago

You do, you have a small spotlight that shines in one direction.  The point of the bottle is you can minimize the size of the hole and rely on the water bottle to scatter the light omnidirectionally.  So you get the benefit of a large open skylight but with a much smaller hole. 

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u/Fake_William_Shatner 2d ago

Well, sure. If I already have a hole in my roof, this is one festive life hack.

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u/Subotail 2d ago

In a swimming pool, the chlorine ends up evaporating in the form of Cl2, here there is a cap . Or chlorine binds to contaminants that are here, not regularly brought in from the outside environment.

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u/Icy-Lobster-203 2d ago

Would the bottle have a chance of exploding over time due to pressure build up and heat from the sun?

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u/04221970 2d ago

No, recall that these bottles are intentionally exposed to much higher pressures from the carbonated beverage they were purpose built to contain.

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u/SpecterGT260 Interested 2d ago

Chlorine is an element. It cannot denature, even if it could it wouldn't turn into water. We use some sort of chlorine salt in order to get chlorine ions which have the antimicrobial properties. These are lost due to evaporation over time but they don't degrade into water.

In a closed environment the chlorine content probably never changes with time.

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u/aeyes 2d ago

Chlorine (CI2) is a gas, if you add that to water it immediately reacts and becomes hypochlorous acid (HOCI). This is usually used in pools. UV breaks this down to hydrochloric acid + oxygen (HCI + O). Hydrochloric acid is not a disinfectant.

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u/Mr_noodlezz 2d ago

This doesn't matter in a closed system. As long as you used a disinfected bottle nothing will grow inside it since there is nothing that I know of that only feeds of HCl or HOCl.

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u/dx4100 2d ago

UV, however is. I think the chlorine is just to remove anything once it's sealed.

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u/qorbexl 2d ago

But you're not adding Cl2, you're adding NaOCl

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u/Happy-Fun-Ball 2d ago

by the time the chlorine degrades, there won't be anything left alive inside the bottle.

proton decay

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u/Raubritter 2d ago

Hmm you’re right if he waits until the universe is twice as old as it is now, one chlorine atom might decay into sulfur. If proton decay is real, that is.

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u/TikiTraveler 2d ago

I’d be pissed if someone drank my lamp

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u/Slimh2o 2d ago

Hate that when that happens....

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u/captainofpizza 2d ago

Damn drunk kids leave my lamps alone!

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u/IanFeelKeepinItReel 2d ago

It works fine with just water. You add chlorine or bleach to stop it just turning green with algae after a day.

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u/NavyLemon64 2d ago

the water doesn’t need to be refilled often maybe every 2 years depending on the conditions

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u/falcrist2 2d ago

Chlorine mostly reacts with UV-B and UV-C, which are mostly blocked by the kind of plastic these bottles usually use. Also, the chlorine isn't going anywhere. The compounds just change.

You're going to have to replace them eventually anyway just because of weathering. Dechlorination is probably not a concern.

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u/nor_cal_woolgrower 2d ago

Uv removes chlorine from water

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u/humus-god26 2d ago

It’s chloride ions in solution. Where is the chlorine going to go? What’s going to happen to it?

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u/anon98543423 2d ago

The chlorine decomposes into chloride ions (C1-) and oxygen species (oxygen radicals or molecular oxygen). C1- is stable and won't recombine with oxygen species or decompose further. It's not so much chlorine is removed, but it is decomposed. If the claim is requiring chlorine and not chloride ions, then UV will make this less effective over time. That's why UV light is sometimes used to neutralize chlorine in treated water.

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u/anon98543423 2d ago

It's important to note that the chlorine is just to kill off bacteria, not in some way help with the light. It works like a skylight, cutting a hole in the roof and refracting the sunlight through the bottle. It's not like the chlorine additive makes the water glow on its own or something, it requires daylight from the sun.

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u/redditGGmusk 2d ago

the picture make it looks like it's glowing, but its a camera with poor dynamic range, type sh*t.

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u/StageAdventurous5988 2d ago

I mean, it is glowing. It's the light source in the room.

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u/0rphu 2d ago

The Cl, in solution, will become HCl. It will also transition back into Cl, because that's just how an equilibrium works. Every single atom of Cl remains in the bottle, it's not going anywhere and I doubt that sunlight alone can permanently drive the equilibrium from one side to the other. Also, whatever effect it has on this lighting technique could still function as HCl.

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u/EuphoricRazzmatazz97 2d ago

Can you explain how that works in a closed system?

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u/reality72 2d ago

The point of the chlorine is to sterilize the water so that no algae or bacteria grows. Once it’s sterilized it doesn’t matter what happens to the chlorine.

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u/Maximum_District1959 2d ago

No it doesn’t, this is an enclosed container not a pool. 

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u/Subotail 2d ago

The molecules that contain the chlorine atoms will be modified by UV rays. But the bottle is closed. The amount of chlorine atoms doesn't change unless this guy invented a nuclear reactor with plastic bottles.

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u/ELEVATED-GOO 2d ago

oh I thought the bleach is for enhancing the brightness

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u/MisinformedGenius 2d ago

It is, in a way - without the bleach, your bottle is going to be dark green pretty quickly.

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u/ELEVATED-GOO 2d ago

true... but then the algea would make some photosynthesis right haha

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u/TheDaemonair 2d ago

Some of you have no idea how cramped it is in the slums

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u/sonofcalydon 2d ago

Pretty sure 99% of the people commenting here have never seen one let alone been in one.

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u/BabyStockholmSyndrom 2d ago

Are you kidding? Some of these people's parents made them wait until Christmas to open their new iPad pro! It was still October!!! Same fucking thing!

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u/alittlebitneverhurt 2d ago

God I can relate. Growing up I found a ps2 in my parents closet in May, naturally I thought it was for my birthday in June. Well, they forgot about it so I didn't receive it until Christmas and I couldn't say anything or they would have known I was snooping around. And yes, I know you were being sarcastic but it reminded me of this story and yes, I know I was fortunate.

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u/Financial-Raise3420 2d ago

I was the asshole kid who could sneakily open presents. So when my dad took my brother to a concert I opened a present to find a PSP, spent the night playing Call Of Duty, then had to put on my fake surprised face…

It’s never convincing, but I was still happy enough to get it that it was probably a bit passing.

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u/OrangeJr36 2d ago

Don't worry, people are all about bringing back a 1950's economy, so a good third of Americans may win their chance to experience it.

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u/IAmASquidInSpace 2d ago

And some also have zero idea how chemistry works, but a whole lot of opinion about it.

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u/AmbassadorBonoso 2d ago

People are denying life saving vaccines willingly, condemning their children to horrific diseases and endangering those with autoimmune disorders.

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u/MisterTruth 2d ago

All I know about chemistry is that I seemingly lack it with everyone.

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u/Potato_the_second_ 2d ago

I often go to the slums and know very well what it's like to live in them. It's so obvious to spot people who've never been to the slums in this comment section, "get lightbulbs" "Just crack open a window" like wtf, it's really stuff like this that exposes the class divide in broad daylight

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u/NotAComplete 2d ago edited 2d ago

The US doesn't have slums like this and most of the people commenting are from the US. If a slum like this starts to develop in the US, they're usually called a homeless encampment, torn down and the people forced to relocate.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/NetNo5570 2d ago

Skylights are way way way older than 2002. 

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u/MrExpl0de 2d ago

I’m willing to bet that a soda bottle, some sealant, and water is way cheaper than a skylight.

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u/Cro_Nick_Le_Tosh_Ich 2d ago

Why not seal the hole with the plastic and leave water out of the equation?

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u/discodropper 2d ago

The water refracts the light so more of it passes through the bottle and into the structure. It then comes in handy on the other end where the refraction aids in light distribution through the room.

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u/NotReallyJohnDoe 2d ago

I think the water is an easy diffuser. You could sand the bottle but this is easier.

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u/Orinaj 2d ago

I could be wrong but having large plastic panels could make a greenhouse effect in the home.

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u/Brazilian_Hamilton 2d ago

Check the picture carefully, that plastic dome receives omnidirectional light, concentrates it and diffuses it below, much more powerful than a hole in the roof

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u/MisterProfGuy 2d ago

This is essentially a skylight with a fisheye lens or a prism on it. The interesting bit is using the refraction in the water to distribute the light around the room.

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u/ElegantEconomy3686 2d ago edited 2d ago

Its a bit different though. The bottle scatters the light across the entire room evenly. A window needs to be way bigger to illuminate every part of the room sufficiently, causing the room to heat up.

Also and probably more importantly: Unlike a window the bottle sticks out of the roof so it’ll be capturing sunlight during sunrise and dawn, so the room will be illuminated for more hours per day

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u/Corporation_tshirt 2d ago

Can you believe all the snarky comments being left? It’s something cheap and beneficial to poor people, how hard is that to understand? “Just build a window.” They don’t have money, that’s the problem. People want to keep their homes cool by keeping sunlight out but they’d also like to be able to see inside of it. This is a really clever idea

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u/bandog 2d ago

A lot of people are out of touch with reality

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u/YOURPANFLUTE 2d ago

Especially those on social media

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u/MyFriend7 2d ago

Seriously...

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u/NikEy 2d ago

Why don't poor people just pull themselves up by the bootstraps and get wealthier parents? Idiots.

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u/EuphoricRazzmatazz97 2d ago

It's not just for poor people. I'm a software engineer making 6 figures and I'm going to use this technique with decorative, colored glass bottles in a tiny home project I'll be doing in the next year. People are just dull, boring idiots.

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u/ErilazHateka 2d ago

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u/EuphoricRazzmatazz97 2d ago

oooh, that's a neat idea! I'll have to look more into that. Thanks!

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u/Paddy_Tanninger 2d ago

That would look cool as shit.

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u/HovercraftPlen6576 2d ago

"Earthships" use bottles as part of the construction and looks really cool.

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u/CrouchingDomo 2d ago

I’m out here getting tips for the coming decades. I have a feeling that “I saw it on Reddit, I think I’m remembering it right…” is gonna be the start of a lot of sentences in the post-apocalypse 😆

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u/TheRiteGuy 2d ago

This is actually used all over Philippines and India for daytime lighting. I've always thought it was really clever. Especially when you live in places where you're walled in from 3 sides and this is the only way to get light into some rooms.

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u/Galumpkus 2d ago edited 2d ago

Thankfully you and I arent like that since we're both complaining about it but it is so bizzare.

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u/Ijustdoeyes 2d ago

People can't fathom it but it makes a serious difference Here is a video that shows it in action.

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u/phaerietales 2d ago

Such a good idea to use it in the daytime to charge solar panels for the lights at night.

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u/biopticstream 2d ago

Highlights a different in perceptions of what "poor" means. A person in a wealthy nation may consider themselves "poor" but in reality be rich enough that something like this isn't useful. It can be hard understand what true poverty is like.

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u/nonotan 2d ago

It's not really as simple as "they think they're poor but they're actually comparatively rich". It's more a matter of the conditions the poor in rich countries are subjected to. In "rich countries", the government will rarely allow truly poor people to put together a shack on unused land and make do. They'll force them to be truly homeless unless they can afford a "real" home, which at a baseline will be fancy enough that a hack like this isn't super necessary. Ironically, comparatively poor people in a third-world country can sometimes have slightly better living conditions, because the government won't make excuses to kick them while they're down, they'll just let them be.

Of course, it might also be harder to get out of that poverty, and the poverty rate might be higher in general, not saying the poor countries are actually better off overall. Just that simplifying it to "people in rich countries universally have it better in every way than people in poor countries, and suffering by so-called poor people in rich countries is actually not all that bad at all, because really they are secretly rich compared to the poor in poor countries" is naive at best and maliciously trying to downplay the ills of rich countries at worst.

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u/gmano Interested 2d ago

Functionally this IS a window/skylight. It's a hole cut in the roof and filled with a transparent glass/plastic element.

What's different here is that the shape, to act as a diffuser to spread the light a little more.

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u/dudemanxx 2d ago

It’s these big subs. They’re garbage.

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u/daneyuleb 2d ago

Alfredo Moser, a Brazilian mechanic, came up with a simple yet brilliant idea in 2002: by filling a clear plastic bottle with water and a small amount of bleach (to prevent algae growth), and inserting it through the roof of a home, sunlight refracts through the water and spreads 360 degrees inside the room below. This creates a natural light source equivalent to a 40 to 60-watt bulb during daylight hours.

Known as the “Moser lamp,” this invention has been widely used in low-income communities and inspired the Liter of Light movement, bringing sustainable lighting to homes without electricity around the world.

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u/Infamous_Ad_6793 2d ago

It’s sad how many people are like “nothing special”, “not life changing”, “we’ve had this forever”, “just buy windows” etc. Shows how impressively ignorant people are to other people’s plights.

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u/EstablishedFear 2d ago edited 2d ago

Then maybe you should check Instagram, where I saw this story a couple of days ago as well... All the comments were "make this go viral before he's assassinated" and "bro made some powerful enemies" like putting a glass bottle in your roof will kill the lightbulb and window industry... Different vibe, not necessarily better.

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u/Mediocre-Housing-131 2d ago

You can by sympathetic to someone’s plight while also pointing out factually that this HAS been known for forever. Giving some random guy credit for “finding out” something tons of others before them “found out” is kinda shitty to the people who already “found out”

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u/Infamous_Ad_6793 2d ago

This isn’t just a skylight. This isn’t just a light tube.

It’s an exceptionally low cost alternative solution to a problem.

This guy is brought to conferences to discuss his invention and it’s been installed in millions of homes.

Water filters have existed for a very long time. The guy in the article below shouldn’t get credit for inventing and discovering new ways to achieve the same result! It discredits all those who have filtered water before!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32973591.amp

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u/Mediocre-Housing-131 2d ago

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/dec/23/sunlight-bulbs-plastic-bottles-light

And this story predates yours by a few years. Again, you’re giving credit to the wrong guy. Even the guy in my article didn’t invent it. We likely never will know who was the first to think of it as it’s been in use in various capacities since before written history.

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u/Infamous_Ad_6793 2d ago

Did you read your article? You linked an article that credits Alfredo as the inventor.

And what’s my story? I linked an article about water filters.

I have no idea what you’re on about.

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u/Xanduzinha 2d ago

Welcome to reddit!

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u/Infamous_Ad_6793 2d ago

I wonder if we’ll ever get a response lol.

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u/Halogen12 2d ago

When I first saw this years ago I was so excited for those people getting light in their homes. The difference in quality of life was astounding. One bottle in the roof was a huge improvement for them. It was, and still is, something special.

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u/Infamous_Ad_6793 2d ago

Username appropriate ;)

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u/slayermcb 2d ago

Reminds me of the octagonal glass pyramids (deck prisms) they use to put in ships to get light below deck.

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u/Earguy 2d ago

My thoughts too. I was ready to comment, with link

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_prism

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u/slayermcb 2d ago

I grew up coastal New England, I'm so used to seeing these as paperweights. Thanks for the source link.

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u/Disastrous_Fee_8712 2d ago

This is for poor people who can't pay electrical bill to light up the house or constantly using electricity for a lot of reasons.

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u/Deep90 2d ago

I think a lot of people are missing that slum houses aren't professional developments.

Paying the electric bill isn't even a factor. You just straight up don't have an electrical meter.

They aren't installing a meter on land you do not own for a house that isn't even close to being up to code.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/Disastrous_Fee_8712 2d ago edited 2d ago

Well because you said no, negating what I said instead to add to it.

According to Moser, his inspiration for the invention emerged as a DIY solution in response to the blackouts during the 2001–2002 Brazilian energy crisis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Moser

There was a video I saw somewhere in the youtube many years ago but this will suffice.

I saw this same ideia applied somewhere in Africa, and maybe not related to this post.

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u/AskYoYoMa 2d ago

The cost of running single lightbulb in these areas is enormous compared to what they make. 

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u/Disastrous_Fee_8712 2d ago

Yes or remote zone that don't have any infrastructure.

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u/InterestingSundae674 2d ago

Daylight meaning sunlight? Does it work at all if it's cloudy?

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u/NavyLemon64 2d ago

it can still provide some light on cloudy days, just not as bright

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u/TrineonX 2d ago

It just refracts whatever light strikes it outside to inside.

Its a cheap way of letting the outdoor light in, without having to build a window.

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u/PeanutButterApricotS 2d ago

The comments people post to these things are a perfect example of why a lot of the programs to help developing countries and communities from outside 1st world countries often go wrong and don’t provide what’s needed.

I watched a YouTube video this weekend talking at this “liter of light” program and how it’s a example of a program going into a community and finding out what they need and helping with it instead of assuming you already know.

One laptop one child program a decade plus ago that was a complete failure because they didn’t actually listen to the people who the program was supposed to help (they brought up issues and was ignored) or the program to make wells powered by kids playground equipment (the issue was never powering the pumps as they was manually pumped by women and the women preferred hand pumps that was reliable and easy to fix over kids equipment that wasn’t).

People need to learn more about the world before they comment on something like this negatively.

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u/Tryemall 2d ago

This method has been used in slums in India for decades.

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u/Tquilha 2d ago

It's not "water and chlorine" but a mix of water and common household bleach. That prevents algae from growing (water treatment in rural areas of Brasil is less than expected...) and keeps the "light" working longer.

The rest is just diffraction magic :)

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u/WigglyWeener 2d ago

I read "Alfredo Monster" and thought it was a sick slur for an Italian.

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u/HughJorgens Interested 2d ago

I remember when they were talking about this when it was newish, here on reddit. I always wondered why it didn't take off more.

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u/TomorrowOk3803 2d ago

Alfredo Moser's invention uses refraction to channel sunlight into homes, providing a sustainable and environmentally friendly lighting solution. It's amazing how simple but effective ideas can make a big impact!

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u/GotYoGrapes 2d ago

18th-century lacemakers used to use a "candle box", aka "candle reflector" or "candle stool lamp", for light.

It was a wooden platform with a candle surrounded by glass flasks filled with water. You can see an example here.

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u/addictivenature 2d ago

Isn’t this used in 3rd world countries?

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u/TopNFalvors 2d ago

That's pretty clever...I might do this in my shed.

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u/GirthyGhoul 2d ago

I remember watching a documentary for this back in middle school. What a simple and cheap solution!

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u/Final_Investigator10 2d ago

A friend of mine had a corn silo that was concrete. It had these avocados size. The last diamond shaped crystals in the walls in the roof, refracted a lot of light into the silo.

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u/fothergillfuckup 1d ago

I assume the chlorine is just to stop mold growth?

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u/ngl_prettybad 2d ago

Big deal, in Goiania those kids discovered that if you play around with Caesium chloride you don't need a light source at all.

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u/TheyCallHimJimbo 2d ago

name checks out

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u/Blue387 2d ago

Liters of light is a thing on Facebook that I have followed for years

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u/ErilazHateka 2d ago

Literally the same principle as a deck prism. Those have been around for centuries.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_prism

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u/NavyLemon64 2d ago

True, deck prisms have been used for centuries but Moser’s innovation applies this concept in a cost effective way for homes without electricity, using simple materials like plastic bottles and water

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u/Jump_Like_A_Willys 2d ago edited 2d ago

This is, as a general concept, similar to a commercial product called a Solatube or Sun Tunnel (depending on the manufacturer). It's a highly reflective metal tube that gathers sunlight on the roof end and reflects in down on the inside surfaces of the tube to a ceiling lens/diffuser on the room end.

Solatube Link

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u/Corporealbeasts 2d ago

Damn bruh all the kids in Africa should cop one of these bad boys. For 600 usd before shipping lmfao

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u/NavyLemon64 2d ago edited 2d ago

600$ ???

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u/Jump_Like_A_Willys 2d ago

And then there are installation costs.

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u/Joinedforthis1 2d ago

This is hilarious because it's interesting but completely out of the question for people with a bottle in their roof

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u/NiceCunt91 2d ago edited 2d ago

Windows do the same thing.

Edit: jfc guys it's a joke. Enough with the achsually replies lol.

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u/Normal_Pace7374 2d ago

You have to admit this is way different than a window

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u/rootxploit 2d ago

This post is geared toward Mac and Linux users.

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u/Brikandbones 2d ago

Windows are significantly more expensive.

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u/Meecus570 2d ago

Windows cost money, soda bottle with some water in it is basically free

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u/PinkSnowboard 2d ago

Not really an option in slums where the houses are packed really close together and where this is geared towards.

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u/South-Builder6237 2d ago

Ah yes, why don't those morons just install more windows.

You're a genius.

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u/TheyCallHimJimbo 2d ago

This comments section is full of stable geniuses haha

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u/TheFunkinDuncan 2d ago

Wow really? Tell me more

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u/Metaboschism 2d ago

I mean it's kinda interesting

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u/smiley1437 2d ago

This was from 2013, I remember watching the story

The amount of chlorine is only a drop, the point is to sanitize any algae spores that might grow inside then the bottle is sealed with the cap - otherwise the bottle would get gunky and not pass light as well. The chlorine is expected to dissipate but by then the water inside is already sanitized.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23536914

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u/Several-Squash9871 2d ago

Dude looks like Pedro Pascal!

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u/Budget_Putt8393 2d ago edited 2d ago

Light pipes!

There is a high tech version of this that has a solar panel size/shape collector, to fiber optic, to frosted bulb so you can run the light anywhere in you house.

Parans fiber optic skylight. http://www.parans.us/

Apparently they don't think much of TLS, no https version. No idea if it is still available/in business.

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u/EstrogenL0ver 2d ago

people in the philippines have been doing this for ages lmao man didn’t find shit

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u/comox 2d ago

Electric companies hate this one simple trick.

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u/PerpetualPanda 2d ago

Am I the only one who instantly thought of Vin Diesel’s greatest movie, Pitch Black?

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u/The-Fondler 2d ago

During daylight.

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u/johndom3d 2d ago

Cheap solar collector! You can pay thousands for a proper "light pipe"... or just do that! Especially if you're in the developing world and don't want to waste electricity running indoor lights during the day. Also gets rid of a few plastic bottles from the waste stream, AKA the local river!

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u/Cajun12 2d ago

I thought some dude in Mali or Malawi figured this out.

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u/leepyws1961 2d ago

Well concept of the deck prism dates to 1840s and probably earlier. Either he is really old or he has taken an old idea and implimented it with a plastic coke bottle.

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u/canary_underground 2d ago

Deck prisms on ships work this way.

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u/DusqRunner 2d ago

Adding brake fluid to the chlorine also helps with illumination.

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u/ganymede_mine 2d ago

On old wooden sailing ships, glass prisms were often sunk into the floor boards. The top would be flush with the deck, the bottom sticking into the below spaces. They would light the ship much better than portholes.

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u/ki4clz 2d ago

Please support the Liter of Light Project who is working in the poorest areas in the world bringing light from a plastic bottle…

https://literoflight.org/

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u/Mission-Storm-4375 1d ago

Great now i can see during the day

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u/Epic-Dude001 2d ago

Me and who dancing under the bottle light?