Birds, especially the urban variety, are feeling the effects of a warming planet. Higher temperatures and a lack of clean water correlate with lower bird diversity.
With summer and winter temperatures breaking records around the world, people in cities are keeping things cool indoors with ever greater reliance on air conditioning systems.
Outside office and apartment windows, vulnerable urban birds face physiological stress and mass die-offs, highlighting the importance of this waterer for their survival.
This simple new invention is turning air conditioning into a solution birds are thirsty for.
You’ve probably noticed the drips and drops that emerge from the outside pipes of air conditioners.
These drops are, in fact, condensation from the cooled air drawn from the interior.
And the more intensively an air conditioner works, the more drops it produces – seven hours of operation can result in as much as ten litres of water from one unit.
By making the bird waterer design open source and available on the Drop of Life website, interested parties can print it at any 3D printing studio.
The design promotes sustainable solutions that support urban bird populations.
Machine_ and Leo Burnett Ukraine began a collaboration on how to turn these drops of water into a lifeline for urban birds.
Pete Little, chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe Africa, says: “If a city is hot enough that you need air conditioning, it’s hot enough for the city’s birds to need a fresh water source.”
The solution? A bird waterer that channels air conditioning drips into a bird-friendly water source.
Designers, ecologists, and ornithologists collaborated to ensure the waterer is natural for birds and adaptable to any air-conditioning system, demonstrating effective teamwork.
Full 3D-printable versions followed prototyped models.
Channelling water from air conditioners into the device provides a sustainable way to deliver clean water to birds, reducing waste and conserving resources.
Kosta Schneider emphasises the design's open-source nature, encouraging cities worldwide to adopt and adapt it to achieve greater environmental impact.
Cities across the world, from Cape Town to Kyiv, Delhi to Los Angeles, are embarking on new strategies to mitigate the impacts of higher temperatures and water scarcity, addressing these challenges for all, including the feathered residents.
