Alex Honnold is best known for his legendary climbing feats, becoming the first person to scale Yosemite’s El Cap in June 2017 without ropes or assistance. While that climb gained him widespread international fame as the subject of the documentary “Free Solo“, Alex has been climbing professionally for almost a decade. Throughout his travels to some of the most remote places in the world to pioneer epic climbs, he was inspired by the off-grid, self-reliant communities he encountered.  He also became acutely aware of the carbon footprint he was contributing to by flying around the world to pursue his sport. In 2014, he channeled his influence in the climbing community into an eponymous foundation that has since partnered with a variety of solar energy companies and supporters to provide clean, renewable, free or low-cost energy to families throughout the Navajo Nation in Colorado, low-income neighborhoods in suburban California, and communities in Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Besides the long-term economic and health benefits provided to impacted communities, the installed solar technology has the potential to offset hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions.  Introducing solar and training people to maintain it is a perfect solution, enabling families to increase their productivity, reduce their expenditure on fuel by as much as 25%, and stop inhaling the toxic fumes created by kerosene lamps.  There’s never been a better time to invest in solar, and by starting in communities with zero or crumbling infrastructure, people can immediately feel the impacts of efficiency and scientific progress. Learn more about their work and partners at the Honnold Foundation, and consider putting them on your giving list this holiday season to simultaneously invest in both the developing world and clean energy.

“Any amount is appreciated – and every amount has an impact. Depending on where you live, $6 can buy you a cup of coffee or a couple tacos. But for a family living in rural Malawi, $6 can buy a solar lantern – a lantern that can provide free, sustainable light, and replace the old kerosene lamp that filled their house with a toxic black cloud.”

Alex Honnold