In recent years, rapid climate change in the Himalayas has led pika, a local grass-eating rodent, to migrate to higher and higher elevations (Pech 2007; Wang 2005). Due to the subsequent degradation of the grass-lands, local herders have nearly double the distance that they walk every day in order to ensure that their animals get enough grass to eat.

We are working with community partners in this region to develop a novel solution that meets communities' immediate needs through inspired fabrics, while also addressing the root causes of the problem. HeatSource Textiles is an innovative mobile heating product that provides users with energy storage and controlled heat delivery whether they are indoors or outdoors by adapting phase change material (PCM) technologies for use in low-income communities of developing nations. Comprised of phase change capsules embedded in traditional Himalayan textiles, HeatSource is designed to replace existing household heating methods with a mobile and low-impact renewable heating mechanism. It aims to eliminate the need to collect or purchase fuel for heating.

By developing a clean, mobile heating source, we are offering villagers a way of keeping warm whether indoors or outdoors, despite the disappearance of their traditional means of doing so. At the same time, we are mitigating climate change, the root cause of grassland ecosystem imbalance and depressed rural incomes in the Himalayas; reducing the health burden of indoor air pollution (IAP); and increasing access to education and income opportunities, especially for women.