I’m sure many of you could think of endless uses for empty soda bottles; simply reuse them to store other dinks perhaps, or even get crafty and create something for the kids.

But what about using them to light a home?

In the Phillipines, millions of households still live in darkness, with many opting to spend the majority of their time outside, as they cannot afford to light their home with electricity.

The MyShelter Foundation, an organisation founded by eco entrepreneur, Illac Diaz, aims to create a system of sustainability through its capability-building and employment-generating project which hope to bring light to one house at a time with their Solar Bottle Bulb.

Their project, called Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light) is a sustainable lighting project which aims to bring the eco-friendly Solar Bottle Bulb to disadvantaged communities around the Philippines, hoping to brighten up one million homes around the country by 2012.  

Originally designed by students from the Massachusetts’s Institute of Technology, the technology behind the Solar Bottle Bulb is as simple as it comes.

An empty soda bottle, some filtered water, bleach and basic tools are all you will need.

A sheet of corrugated iron serves as a support structure to hold the bottle in place, and when placed snugly into a purpose made hole in the roof, the homemade bulb refracts and spreads sunlight, illuminating the room beneath.

With the bleach preventing the spread of algae in the water, the bulbs can be installed in less than an hour and are designed to emit 60 watts of light for up to five years.

One woman living in the community of Sitio Maligaya, said she underestimated the impact the Solar Bulb would have on her life.

“It’s just as bright as en electric bulb,” she said.

“We used to take this bottle for granted, but now we can’t live without it.”

Over 640 houses in the area are now installed with these “light bulbs”, and Illac Diaz hopes to see this number continue to rise.

“Liter of Light lights up houses, saves a lot [of money] and at the same time improves the standard of living, especially in the bottom 90% of this country,” he said.

To learn how to make your own Solar Bottle Bulb, or to support A Liter of Light project, head to www.isanglitrongliwanag.org