Student Designs Portable Fridge for the Developing World

A couple years ago, 21-year old student and total badass Emily Cummins designed a fridge that uses recycled, metal, cardboard, and a little water and sun to keep products at a constant 43 degrees farenheit. The fridge was originally designed as a more energy efficient alternative for the UK, but having researched sustainable design for Africa the year before, Emily wondered if she could build a version using materials locally available across the continent. She traveled to Namibia where she lived in a township and brainstormed with people and ended up successfully building a version using what was around.

Trendhunter magazine writes how it works: "[The] solar-powered fridge works on the principle of evaporation by using both convection and conduction. The goods to be refrigerated are sealed in an interior metal chamber. Sand, wool or soil is placed between that inner chamber and the outer chamber, and as it is warmed by the sun, water evaporates and thereby cools the fridge’s inner chamber. It can maintain a temperature of 43 degrees Fahrenheit for several days. "

You should watch the whole video below, and be blown away. Probably my favorite part is at the end where she says that she's working on a more high tech version to sell to pharma companies while she releases the basic design to allow local entrepreneurs to build businesses around it. Keep your eye on this girl.