10 Of The Year’s Best Designs For Social Good

Cynics be damned! From an oven that turns seawater into drinking water, to a pair of 3-D printed arms that let a toddler hug her mom for the first time, these products made a positive contribution to thousands of lives this year. The term "do-gooder" has been a pejorative since the 1650s, when a British doctor coined it to refer to misguided idealists. Yet it’s tough to be blasé about do-gooders in 2012, a year in which we saw social innovation blossoming across creative fields. For example, even the most world-weary will find it difficult to deny the brilliance of GiraDora, a foot-powered washing and drying machine co-created by a young designer and a group of women in the slums of Lima. Or the design student who created a disaster-preparedness kit inspired by his mother’s work as a volunteer after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.Read Full Story