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Sunday, 2 August 2020

Mini Film Review: Billions in Change 2


Billions in Change 2 is a follow-up documentary from Billions in Change were a series of new inventions are introduced to us.  These are all designed to help 'improve humanity' by addressing what they see as everyone's fundamental needs, which are energy, water, and health.  Led by the founder billionaire Manoj Bhargava, the work is being carried out through Stage 2, The Hans Foundation, and The Hans Hospital and the idea is to enable communities to build their own futures by providing them with free electricity, free fertilizer, and clean water.

The new inventions highlighted in this documentary are the HANS PowerPack, the HANS Solar Briefcase, the RainMaker for Brackish Water, the RainMaker for Grey Water, and the Shivansh Fertiliser.  I was definitely intrigued by the PowerPack and Solar Briefcase and think it might be a really good option for when I start living in a van properly as I very much doubt I'm going to be able to afford the full solar set up right from the start.  Of course, there's the added fact that by buying these products you are helping to support the work that they do, and that's no bad thing.

The RainMakers are products that we did see the pre-cursor of in the first documentary and it's good to see how it has evolved, becoming more compact and suited to the needs of the communities they're being sent to.  There are probably simpler ways of getting fresh water into a community, but these won't work for everyone everywhere and the ability to recycle water rather than just constantly taking it new is definitely something we are going to need to start doing if we want to live within the boundaries of our environment.  

The Shivansh Fertiliser is designed to help rural farmers make their own fertiliser using what they already have lying around the farm, such as animal manure and dry plant material.  To be honest, it is literally just basic composting in a cage and this is a technique they probably would have been using at some point in the past before going to expensive commercial fertiliser.  While some people have criticised Billions in Change for taking credit for handing out information on composting (they've made it available online for free), I see it more as a shame that there are communities that have lost this knowledge and are now having to be taught it all over again.

I'm not entirely sure if this documentary is a necessary watch from a fact collecting point of view, but it was good to see that there are people out there trying to find solutions to some of the issues that are facing many people today.  It's also good to see that they work to enable communities to then take their own steps to the future they want instead of having to rely on others.  Definitely watch the first documentary before you watch this one, neither of them will take up a lot of your time, and enjoy watching something that's a little positive break from what is happening right now.

If you want to learn more about Billions in Change their website is here.

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