Toys for Elementary Math Education in the Developing World

Project H Design is an Ecolect partner and a global design nonprofit who believes design can change the world. Their team has assembled a group of industrial designers, social entrepreneurs, and manufacturers to conceive and produce a toy for elementary math education with applications in the developing world and the US retail markets. Their case study is the Kutamba School for AIDS orphans, located in Uganda. Project H’s team will develop a locally-made version of the toy for Kutamba and broader distribution in the developing world, along with a sister US retail version based on the same system.

In addition to taking donations on their site, Project H is submitting their proposal on Ideablob “the living, breathing community of ideas”. Their team is striving to delve more deeply into the design development, prototyping, user testing and distribution. According to Emily Pilloton, Founder of Project H Design, “We will be able to fund the initial production of the math toys for both the Kutamba case study school as well as the US retail production and associated legal/intellectual property protection.”

If you like what Project H is up to, sign-into Ideablob and give them a vote!

e2 On Harvesting the Wind

A 3 minute trailer from the e2 series on PBS. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, this particular video focuses on the story of a wind energy project taking place in southwest Minnesota. The farmers featured in the video have joined with a local developer to set up a wind farm, supplying energy to residents and businesses in their area.

According to Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news agency, United States wind power grew by 45 percent in 2007 and $9 billion was invested. In addition, through their annual year-end report, The American Wind Energy Association noted that wind power accounted for 30 percent of all new power generation in the US. In comparison, 2006 only saw a wind power growth of 20 percent and $4 billion was spent.

US Manufacturing Going Strong

Surprisingly, as US service industries shrank last month, factories expanded. Accounting for approximately 12 percent of the economy, manufacturing held strong in the United States. What does this say about our spending and production? Are consumers buying less as a result of higher prices and a loss in jobs? Bloomberg.com covers this pressing issue but neglects to mention the many eco-minded consumers who are now asking for locally made products, supporting manufacturers in the US while also buying less product in general. For the full article see bloomberg.com.