As the beefy name would imply, the Big Boda is about as close to a beast of burden as a bike can get. Able to carry hundreds of pounds of cargo or two additional passengers, Big Boda was designed as a cheap solution to transport goods to and from market for entrepreneurs and consumers in developing countries. WorldBike designed Big Boda as a steel frame extension that attaches to any bicycle, making even the flimsiest frame into a durable and hefty transport option.

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Perhaps one of the first great examples of the intersection of innovative design, gorgeous aesthetics, functionality, and social conscience, Fuseproject’s XO laptop designed for the One Laptop Per Child program will deliver usable technology children of technologically underprivileged demographics. The fully-loaded and very cute machine will be delivered in mass quantities to developing countries for about $130 each, giving thousands of children access to the web and each other, along with dozens of educational applications. Last July, Nigeria placed the first order of one million units, and last month, the design was given Popular Science magazine’s “Best of What’s New” Award.

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In a great combination of green energy, humanitarian design, and strategic marketing, the BOGO solar flashlight gives the gift of light to rural communities and urban families alike. Powered by an embedded solar photovoltaic cell, the flashlight costs just $25, and when you buy one for yourself, one is donated. This business model is becoming popular within the humanitarian product design world as manufacturers discover that the products are widely applicable to both underprivileged demographics and first-world citizens alike. Plus, it engages donors and encourages individuals to both give and use the same object.

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IDEO has long been a pioneer of high-tech, socially-conscious industrial design. The Lifeport Organ Recovery System is no exception- providing a sleek and high-performing alternative to the usual cooler and ice, Lifeport transports organs to the 70,000+ Americans on the waiting list to receive kidney donations (not including international organ recipients and other organs). For nearly as long as organ donation has been available, organs were transported without any way to regulate or monitor their viability, and organs often would not make the journey from donation to transplantation.

In collaboration with Organ Recovery Systems, IDEO created the LifePort, a cooler with a self-contained pump that perfuses the kidney with a cold liquid solution. The kidney is housed in an egg-like unit that also monitors its viability in a clear, easy-to-read format, and is easily transported from procurement site to surgery. The same team now plans to create similar units for other organs. The device also provides critical data to monitor and evaluate kidneys during transport.

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The Portable Light Project delivers light bright enough to read and work to rural areas without access to electricity, using solar panels, LEDs, and rechargeable batteries, all woven into a textile base by women weavers in the San Andreas region of the Sierra Madre, Mexico.

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Similar in function to the QDrum, the Hippo Roller makes water transport easy for millions whose daily routine includes fetching water from far-off sources.Traditional methods of collecting water include the use of 20-liter (5-gallon) buckets, which are laboriously carried on the head. This method is time and energy consuming and the cause of many serious health problems, particularly spinal and back injuries. Designers Pettie Petzer & Johan Jonker, in collaboration with South African NGOs and Imvubu Projects designed the large UV-stabilized polyethylene drum with a screw-on lid and a steel clip-on handle to carry 90 liters (20 gallons) of water. The filled drum is turned on its side and pushed like a steamroller. There are 25,000 rollers in use to date. Donate to Hippo Roller through Operation Hunger here.

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