Saturday, July 12, 2008

All things solar

Lately, I have been spending a lot of time reading about solar technologies. Since I think that there is a lot we can all learn about solar energy, I created a new Squidoo lens about the topic. Check it out and let me know what you think. (As for all of my other lenses, all proceeds from this Squidoo lens support the work of Young Inventors.)

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Social Entrepreneur Chronicles

Some weeks ago, I received a really interesting email from Peep Laja about Sarah, a social entrepreneur who is chronicling her experiences about building her venture on her blog. I like Sarah's collaborative approach to building her start-up. I thought that Peep described Sarah's quest so aptly that I asked for his permission to re-post his entire email verbatum.

"A friend of mine is starting a social venture where she is helping to empower the indigenous women of Ngoble-Bugle (a tribe living in northern Panama) through giving them access to the world market by selling their amazing handicraft to the world. These women make the most amazing bags from plant fiber. It takes 2-3 months to make one bag, and they are awesome.

Until now these women had no access to the market. There are hardly any roads leading to where they live, not to mention anything else. Sometimes a buyer goes to the villages and forces these women to sell their bags for just a couple of dollars. Couple of dollars for bags which took over a thousand years to design and over 2 months to make. Now Sarah (the social entrepreneur in the making) is giving them a fair price for the work and providing these women access to the whole world.

She started a blog where she is talking about each step of setting up this venture. A great way to see positive change happening step by step.

Link: http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com"