Blog entries

Haiti Relief: Cookstoves, Water Filtration, and Solar Lights

Elizabeth Israel — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:32:46 +0100

GreenMicrofinance Response to Haiti Relief
Clean Cook Stoves - Water Filtration Systems - Solar Lighting

On January 12, Haiti experienced a 7.0-magnitude earthquake, devastating this impoverished island nation. GreenMicrofinance Team is responding NOW! We have set up a pipeline in Haiti to distribute much needed relief supplies – water, cook stoves, and solar lights. PRead More...

Why Aren't Improved Cook Stoves Selling Like Hotcakes?

Betsy Teutsch — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:36:04 +0100

Our friends at GVEP, the Global Village Energy Partnership, have published an extensive series of papers, edited by Allesandra Moscadelli, that explore why adoption of Improved Cookstoves, with so many benefits - lower fuel use = lower cost, less smoke inhalation, lower emissions, lessened deforestation - have been slow to catch on.

La Mosquitia, one of the last remaining tropical forest areas left in Central America, is the most impoverished region in Honduras. Local communities, including the indigenous Miskito (or Read More...

The Wonders of Biochar

Betsy Teutsch — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:46:07 +0100

This came across my e-desk via the Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire, and I am passing it along as a whole, with thanks to the author.

Biochar: Ancient Wisdom Gives Clue to A Brighter Future
This 36th seminar in the Microfinance Learning and Innovations After Hours SRead More...

Women and the Planet's Environment

Betsy Teutsch — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:00:28 +0100

Andy Lubershane's cartoon strips are really fun and make great points.

On this one, though - we think he meant to say, "Give women sustainable energy and they will prosper - and then they can afford to educate their daughters, and population rates in the developing world will drop."

"Microfinance and Climate Change" USAID Forum Summary by Betsy Teutsch

Elizabeth Israel — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:38:00 +0100

Microfinance and Climate Change: Can MFIs Promote Environmental Sustainability The Summary was authored by our own Betsy Teutsch, GreenMicrofinance, Director of Communication. Great work, Betsy!

This report summarizes key themes and “lessons learned” from the “Microfinance and Climate Change: Can MFIs Promote Environmental Sustainability?” Speaker’s Corner, held November 18-20, 2008. Nearly 200 participants from over 40 countries participated Read More...

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Betsy Teutsch — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:40:18 +0100

William Kamkwamba, raised in a village in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries. He dropped out of school at age 14 due to famine - his family was forced to choose between food or school for their son. He poured through books at a local mini-library, and - inspired by a picture of a windmill - Read More...

Application of Solar Pumps

Elizabeth Israel — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:42:02 +0100

Solar Pumps operate anywhere there is Sun ray. It will not run when there is rain but there is no need of pumping water when it rains.

OFF GRID refers to a power system that generates electricity such as power from a Solar PV array. The electricity produced is stored in Batteries for later use and the energy system isn't connected to Read More...

Announcing: the GreenMicrofinance Jamii Bora Collaboration!

Betsy Teutsch — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:21:55 +0100

Monday night GreenMicrofinance and Jamii Bora announced their intent to work together on the Jamii Bora gamechanger: Kaputei, its eco-village outside Nairobi, eventual home to 10,000 Jamii Bora members. This microfinance institution, which has grown to nearly a quarter million borrowers in just a decade, is headed by the indefatigueable Ingrid Munro. Read More...

Aora-Solar's Dream: An Energy Array in Every Village....

Betsy Teutsch — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:12:29 +0100

Yuval Susskind, a rising Israeli greentech star, would like to put an Aora solar tower and array in every village in Africa. His company's innovative design meets the gap between household solar panels and utility-sized giant solar farms. The system creates energy 24 hours a day; if the solar supply is insufficient, the system can run on biofuel or other non-fossilRead More...

World's Poor are the Most Vulnerable Victims of Global Warming

Betsy Teutsch — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:08:24 +0100

Some headlines just fail to surprise, like the recent one announcing that "low income workers are often cheated out of their wages." Unfortunately, the fact that global warming's greatest impacts are on the world's poor is not really news; we at GMf are well aware of this terrible truth. But this recent article in mainstream USA Today sums the situation up well:

GO San Francisco! Environmental Justice Program and Solar for Public Housing!

Elizabeth Israel — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:45:52 +0100

San Fransisco Environmental Justice Program

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, income, or education level, in environmental decision-making. Working closely with residents and businesses to make sure that the basic necessities of life-water, air, food, and shelter-are of the highest quRead More...

Energy Meeting Women's Needs!

Elizabeth Israel — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:45:12 +0100

Why Women's Rights Are the Cause of our Time
New York Times Magazine
August 23, 2009

WHY DO MICROFINANCE organizations usually focus their assistance on women? And why does everyone benefit when women enter the work force and bring home regular pay checks? One reason involves the dirty little secret of global poverty: some of the most wretchedRead More...

Barh Koh ESDA in Chad: Preserving Forests while Enhancing Quality of Life

Betsy Teutsch — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:14:07 +0100

Barh Koh ESDA in Chad approaches poverty relief through environmental protection, working to provide environmentally safe alternative energy sources to the disadvantaged inhabitants and refugees in the region of Maro in southern Chad. The group's focuses on cooking and indoor lighting, to help reduce dependence on firewood, thereby reducing deforestation.

Their plan of action shows theRead More...

Bedouins Meet Biodigesters

Betsy Teutsch — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:13:40 +0100

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSr6oLw-X4U 300x250]

"Approximately 50% of the 180,000 Bedouin residents of Israel’s Negev live in unrecognized villages without sewage systems, with no way to effectively treat human and animal waste products. This lack of basic facilities leads to documented high rates of urinary tract infections, respiratory diseases and burns, primarily among women and children. Beyond the personal toll on the health of the residents, above-groRead More...

Great Chart on Energy Poverty, Gender, and Health

Betsy Teutsch — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:14:26 +0100

This chart which I came across is from 2002 - things haven't changed much, though now we know that black smoke emissions from burning dung et al are actually very toxic, and big contributers to GHG-caused global warming.

You can see the whole article - extremely informative - here.

Sustainable GREEN Microfinance - an Attainable Goal

Betsy Teutsch — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:59:50 +0100

Teasing out the meaning of "sustainable microfinance"
Christian Science Monitor

"There is nothing intrinsic about microfinance that makes it green. The author’s assertion is simply incorrect and ’sustainable’ in the business sense does not necessarily equate to environmental sustainability. A microentrepreneur may use chemicals that are bad for the environment, they may use farming techniques that create run-off, they Read More...

Reflections From the Colombia Microcredit Summit: A Q&A With GMf Director William Yager

Sarah Ban — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:16:41 +0100

On June 10th, GreenMicrofinance’s William Yager, Director of Sustainable Microenterprise Development, participated in the panel, “How MFIs and Their Clients Can Have a Positive Impact on the EnvironmenRead More...