There is a designer in all of us. Solutions for the world’s unmet needs lie in the untapped insights of these everyday designers. Design Impact strives to celebrate and realize these solutions.
Their pilot project is taking place in Tamil Nadu, India. Their goal is to work with and established non-profit to design solutions that provide greater access basic necessities for individuals in the targeted area. They are currently working with the Organization for Development, Action and Maintenance (ODAM) (http://www.odam.in/joomla/index.php ) on two projects: fair trade soap and charcoal briquettes.
The fair trade soap projects goal is to create a fair trade soap product that generates jobs for local women, as well as financially supports ODAM’s bio-diesel initiative. ODAM operates a bio-diesel center which purchases local non-edible tree-borne oil nuts directly from farmers and sells them back bio-diesel at a reduced cost. One of the co-products of the process is glycerin, which is used as the main ingredient for the soap. The successful promotion of the soap will ensure a stable market for local farmer’s crops.
The charcoal briquette is significant for two reasons. The first is at the consumption end: when properly produced and burned, briquettes are a carbon neutral, energy efficient and safe way of heating and cooking. The second is on the production end: when briquettes are created using the scraps of local charcoal production, and sold in markets where wood fuel is scarce, they may represent an important income stream for a poor family.
Their pilot project is taking place in Tamil Nadu, India. Their goal is to work with and established non-profit to design solutions that provide greater access basic necessities for individuals in the targeted area. They are currently working with the Organization for Development, Action and Maintenance (ODAM) (http://www.odam.in/joomla/index.php ) on two projects: fair trade soap and charcoal briquettes.
The fair trade soap projects goal is to create a fair trade soap product that generates jobs for local women, as well as financially supports ODAM’s bio-diesel initiative. ODAM operates a bio-diesel center which purchases local non-edible tree-borne oil nuts directly from farmers and sells them back bio-diesel at a reduced cost. One of the co-products of the process is glycerin, which is used as the main ingredient for the soap. The successful promotion of the soap will ensure a stable market for local farmer’s crops.
The charcoal briquette is significant for two reasons. The first is at the consumption end: when properly produced and burned, briquettes are a carbon neutral, energy efficient and safe way of heating and cooking. The second is on the production end: when briquettes are created using the scraps of local charcoal production, and sold in markets where wood fuel is scarce, they may represent an important income stream for a poor family.
