Thirty Million Dollars, a Little Bit of Carbon, and a Lot of Hot Air
Thirty Million Dollars, a Little Bit of Carbon, and a Lot of Hot Air SSIR Opinion & Analysis "Vestergaard Frandsen makes an ingenious water filter that's too expensive for the people who need it." Fast Company, April 2011 Verstergaard Frandsen, maker of fine mosquito nets and the mostly useless LifeStraw Personal, has announced plans to give away a million of their LifeStraw Family water filters to households in western Kenya. CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen will invest $30 million of his own money in the project—known as Carbon for Water —but according to Fast Company, "he's not worried about losing out—because for each LifeStraw he donates, he's going to be making money." How's that work? Though the magic of carbon credits, of course! Back to Fast Company: "Kenyans boil their water to eliminate waterborne diseases, using wood fires. Those fires generate a large amount of carbon, and eliminating the need to b...