Program Reach: Rwanda and Kenya

Clean ecological friendly lights for rural communities in Kenya, Rwanda and India, and the distribution in developing countries of fuel efficient “green” stoves that burn 70% less wood – are the winning inventions of the
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Sasakawa Prize for 2009-10.

The names of the organizations that won the prize are Nuru Design and Trees, Water & People (TWP). The prizes were awarded at a ceremony on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

Program reach: India

Nuru Design developed portable, rechargeable LED lights that can be recharged by solar panel or by human power using the world’s first commercially available pedal generator, the Nuru POWERCycle.

In Rwanda alone, every three months it is estimated that 10,000 households convert from kerosene -fueled lighting to Nuru lights, eliminating not only the costs but also the harmful kerosene side-effect substances from homes, while enabling development through clean rural electrification.

Kids using the Nuru lights

TWP collaborates with local NGOs to distribute fuel-efficient cooking stoves to communities in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Haiti. These stoves burn 70% less wood, saving families US$1to $5 a day, and help decrease harmful emissions by 1 ton of CO2 a year per stove for domestic home users and 3.5 tons of CO2 a year for commercial users.

Program Reach: Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Haiti

TWP projects also include reforestation work which to date account for the planting of three million trees in Latin America.

Mr Stuart Conway, representing TWP, and Mr Sameer Hajee, representative for Nuru Design, received the $200,000 awards for their organizations at a ceremony on 23 February.

The UNEP Sasakawa Prize is awarded yearly to individuals or institutions that have made a significant contribution to the conservation and management of the environment.

Latin American family using the TWP cooking stove

The prize serves as an incentive for grassroots environmental efforts which are innovative, sustainable and replicable. It recognizes extraordinary initiatives from around the world that make use of groundbreaking research and ideas that empower people at the local level.

The theme for the 2009-10 awards was “Green Solutions to Combat Climate Change,” which addresses two major themes of UNEP’s work: Climate Change and the Green Economy Initiative.

The Attitude Needed to Save the Environment