How to make sport more sustainable
- By Jack Preston -
- Aug 02, 2012
As the Olympics are currently demonstrating, sport has a truly global appeal. Few things in life provoke the sort of collective excitement that has been seen around the world in the past week, with nations coming together to support their athletes, sharing in their ecstasy and agony.
But what if all the energy expended through sport could be harnessed and used for good? What if something positive could come out of even the bitterest of defeats? One group trying to do exactly this is sOccket, who recently entered Virgin Unite’s Screw Business as Usual competition.
The unique idea behind sOccket sees football used a source of electrical power. The innovative idea may not have come out on top of the competition, however it has won many supporters through its mission to bring electrical power to all parts of the globe. Most notably of all President Bill Clinton has given his backing, describing the idea as “something quite extraordinary.”
“This is an idea for clean energy that I think it’s fair to say, no one else on the planet has ever thought of. Kick a ball and turn on a light, it’s an off-grid solution that allows us to improve quality of life and learning capacity,” remarked President Clinton.
“The sOccket harnesses the kinetic energy of a soccer ball during normal game play and stores it for later power needs. After play, small electrical appliances, like an LED lamp, water sterilizer, and emergency cellphone chargers can be plugged into the sOccket,” explained the creators.
“Thirty minutes of play can power an LED lamp for three hours. The sOccket is clean, sustainable and a fun way to get electricity to those who live without it.”
If you’d like to find out more visit the sOccket website.
Alternatively, if you want to read more about ideas to Screw Business as Usual, head over to Virgin Unite.
By Jack Preston. Content Executive. Tweets at @JackPressedOn
