Unite to Light - Unite to Light

Solar Lights Fight Climate Change and Air Pollution

2/7/2023

The mission of Unite to Light is to provide light and power to people living without electricity. We focus on helping people in rural communities in low-income countries, as these are the people who can least often afford even a low cost solar light. People in these communities typically rely on kerosene lamps as a source of lighting after the sun goes down. Kerosene is a dangerous and expensive fossil fuel that emits both carbon dioxide and black carbon (more commonly referred to as soot), when burned.

With nearly one billion (and counting) people still lacking access to electricity across the globe, we are striving to replace kerosene lamps with solar lights. When we increase access to solar lamps, we increase access to educational opportunities, healthcare, and productivity. We also decrease greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

Solar Sister, Vimilia, with a customer.

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2022 Year in Review

1/10/2023

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We’ve accomplished SO much in 2022 with you by our side. Thank you for getting low-cost, eco-friendly solar light and power to the farthest reaches of the world. One light, one charger, and one person at a time — you are changing lives.

By all measures this was our biggest year yet. We distributed 32,350 Lights & Chargers to people in 30 countries. This represented an almost 50% increase in the number of people we were able to help from last year.

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Unite to Light the Night Changes 10,000 Lives

12/8/2022

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At Unite to Light, we believe access to clean, affordable light and energy is critical to improving health, education, and prosperity. To help bring light to the over one billion living without access to electricity, we hosted a 3-day art exhibition and fundraiser. The event, aptly named “Unite to Light the Night” (UTLTN), took place at the Community Arts Workshop in downtown Santa Barbara. Our efforts were successful! We raised over $100,000 — enough money to send 10,000 solar lights to students, midwives, victims of natural disasters and our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

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E-Waste How-To: Circular Lifecycles for Solar Technology

11/23/2022

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Luke Light

The solar-operated Luke Lights and Chandler Chargers we produce are sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel based lamps and energy sources, as well as single use batteries. However, they still have a limited useful life (2-5 years). At Unite to Light we believe in supporting circular product life cycles, and that means responsible disposal of our products and other e-waste at the end of their lives. While we do operate on a global scale and work internationally with on the ground partners to properly recycle our products, this article is intended for our U.S. consumers - we hope it helps!

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Unite To Light Nonprofit Launches Glow Tribe NFT Collection

11/3/2022

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Introducing the Glow Tribe

Unite to Light, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing clean, renewable light and energy to people living without electricity, is partnering with Intuizi and artist Daniel Sulzberg to create a community building initiative around an NFT art collection.

Intuizi, a location data-based business intelligence company and artist Daniel Sulzberg, who goes by the artist name Danvillage, have partnered with Unite to Light to launch the Glow Tribe. “The Glow Tribe is a universal community of bright light messengers here to share bright ideas, guide humans out of the darkness and help spread the light” explained Megan Birney Rudert, CEO of Unite to Light, about the idea behind this initiative.

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Unite To Light The Night

9/21/2022

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Three-evenings of art and entertainment to fight inequity, one light at a time.

We are breaking the mold for fundraising events with our inaugural event, Unite to Light the Night, October 6-8. The event merges art, culture, and social impact into immersive experiences over the course of three evenings. The basis of the fundraiser is an art exhibition around the theme of light. People of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds will have the ability to participate in at least one of the evenings.

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Meet Our Spring 2022 Gift Of Light Grantees

5/31/2022

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For the Spring 2022 cycle of the Gift of Light Partner Program, we’ve chosen four organizations to receive donated Chandler Chargers and Luke Lights. Each of these organizations share common values with Unite to Light - their projects align with one of our focus areas: improving global health, assisting those experiencing homelessness, aiding in education, and helping those facing disasters. Lights and Chargers for this program were generated through our Buy One | Give One program; for every light we sell, we donate one. These are the projects that directly benefit from the “Give One” portion of our sales:

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Power Up Your Pack Trip

5/24/2022

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When assessing your power needs for a packing trip, it is important to first figure out what your power needs are, examine your power options, and last, decide what will work best for your trip (or trips!). Here are our recommendations on how to power up your pack trip.

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REACH for Uganda Solar Light Report

4/8/2022

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Mary and Ronald have big dreams like many kids their age, but living in rural Uganda, their options are limited. The gift of Luke Lights last year has their future looking brighter.

The students, both in 4th grade, attend Arlington Junior School in Uganda and don't have access to electricity during school hours or at home. Once the sun goes down, they can’t continue their studies in the dark. The Luke Lights are changing that: “The solar lights you gave us are helping us to read at night. My parents are encouraging me to work hard for a better future,” said Mary Nabukuwa. Ronald Kutosi wants to establish a better future through furthering his education: “It is important to find something that I want to do that can also help my family. When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.”

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Gaining Insight. To spread more light.

2/3/2022

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Once your donation comes in, lights get shipped. And then the distribution begins. Walking 4 hours to villages and back, riding in the back of a pick-up truck on dusty bumpy roads. There’s no UPS or Amazon or postal worker. Trusted volunteers with big hearts hand the lights out.

Through generous donations from supporters like you, we sent 2000 lights to Honduras. But we wanted to do more than distribute lights, so we could do MORE next time.

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Unite to Light Blog

Solar Lights Fight Climate Change and Air Pollution

2022 Year in Review

Unite to Light the Night Changes 10,000 Lives

E-Waste How-To: Circular Lifecycles for Solar Technology

Unite To Light Nonprofit Launches Glow Tribe NFT Collection

Introducing the Glow Tribe

Unite To Light The Night

Three-evenings of art and entertainment to fight inequity, one light at a time.

Meet Our Spring 2022 Gift Of Light Grantees

Power Up Your Pack Trip

REACH for Uganda Solar Light Report

Gaining Insight. To spread more light.

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