Ice in a Box
Clean ice. Clean water. Clean power. A solar-powered pilot program built for San Evaristo, a remote fishing village in Baja California Sur, Mexico — and designed to be replicated wherever coastal communities need it most.
On-site solar array replaces diesel generators and fuel runs
Seawater becomes safe drinking water for the whole community
Reliable, affordable ice made on-site for the local catch
Built to be shipped, deployed, and replicated anywhere
A 100-mile round trip just for ice
San Evaristo’s economy runs on small-scale fishing — but the village has no reliable way to keep the catch cold, or to drink clean water.
Ice Trucked From La Paz
With no local ice production, fishers haul ice more than 100 miles from La Paz — burning fuel, raising costs, and cutting into already thin margins.
Lower Quality, Lower Prices
Delays and inconsistent ice supply reduce seafood quality and limit the markets San Evaristo’s fishers can reach — and the prices they can earn.
Scarce, Unsafe Drinking Water
Despite local facilities, good-quality drinking water is scarce in this isolated desert community — contributing to health problems, especially among children.
One solar-powered unit. Two essential resources.
Ice in a Box pairs solar power with desalination and ice-making equipment inside a single modular unit — producing both safe drinking water and affordable ice, with zero fossil fuel required to run it.
Solar Array
Panels generate clean electricity on-site, eliminating the diesel generators typical of remote coastal facilities.
Desalination
Seawater is converted into safe, good-quality drinking water for the community — addressing a health need decades in the making.
Ice Production
A portion of the fresh water is turned into ice on-site, keeping the local catch cold without the 100-mile drive to La Paz.
Modular & Replicable
The entire system is built as a transportable “box,” fabricated by GivePower in Austin, Texas, and shipped ready to deploy.
It started with a request at a Sustainable Ocean Conference
Luis Bourillón of Comepesca approached Steve Bender, Chairman of the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce, with a simple but urgent ask: could the man behind Doc in a Box design something similar for ice and water — for a village most maps barely show?
Steve agreed — on one condition: the project had to deliver safe drinking water to San Evaristo’s residents too. What followed was a prototype, a partnership with GivePower, and the start of a pilot program now drawing interest from Latin America and Asia.
Read the Full StoryComepesca requests help for San Evaristo
Steve makes it a 2026–2027 Rotary Year priority
GivePower fabricates the unit in Austin, TX
A replicable model for coastal villages worldwide
A partnership of ocean, energy, and community organizations
Comepesca
Mexico’s leading council for sustainable seafood, and the organization whose call for help started it all.
Learn more →
GivePower
Solar water-farm pioneers, fabricating the Ice in a Box unit at their facility in Austin, Texas.
Learn more →U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce
Home of the “box” initiatives — Doc in a Box, Dental in a Box, Vision in a Box, and now Ice in a Box.
Learn more →Help bring Ice in a Box to the next village
San Evaristo is the first of what Comepesca, GivePower, and the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce hope will be hundreds of coastal communities served by this model — with new requests already arriving from Latin America and Asia.