Innovations that would save the world – Part II

Green Stove

A stove that works more efficiently (using 70 percent less fuel) and cleanly (95 percent fewer harmful emissions) than traditional methods. This stove is invented by African Clean Energy, a South African company. This is a battery powered appliance that recharges via a solar panel, and it also has a USB port to power mobile phones and laptop.

In the developing world, half the population still cooks with dung, coal and wood, which results in air pollution which leads to premature deaths. This invention of clean green stove will help reduce the number of deaths by pollution and also make the meal preparation easier.

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A safety kit

A Bangladeshi non-profit organisation, BRAC has created a low cost solution to reduce the maternal mortality rate. It is a Rs.25 home delivery kit that contains basic items for safety. BRAC has distributed more than 2.6mn kits that has reduced the maternal mortality rate in Bangladesh by more than 50 percent in the past decade.

This is an affordable solution to reduce the maternal mortality across the world. It is estimated that more than 800 women die from infections and haemorrhages incurred in pregnancy complications.

An inexpensive Maxi Pad

In Rwanda, 18 percent of menstruating girls and women, on average miss 35 days of school and work every year because they cannot afford sanitary pads. Sometimes they resort to unsafe alternatives like using rags, leaves, mud, etc. These can lead to infections and other diseases.  Sustainable Health Enterprise (SHE) based in Rwanda makes sanitary napkins from banana tree fibres. The pad costs about Rs.2 apiece. This has reduced the infections and the women and girls now are safe and hygienic during the periods.