Smallbean Launches and Recruits Your Dusty iPods, Cameras and Laptops
Submitted by: smallbean
2009-10-20 15:33:22
Smallbean, a not-for-profit organization, collects and reuses excess personal electronics from the United States as part of an initiative to provide interested citizens in diverse communities with the electronic tools, training, and support to document the events of their daily lives.
Boston, MA October 19, 2009 Former corporate lawyer, graphic designer and amateur electronics enthusiast Sean Hewens adds philanthropist and entrepreneur to his list of talents and achievements with the launch of Smallbean (http://www.smallbean.org). Smallbean, a not-for-profit organization, collects and reuses excess personal electronics from the United States as part of an initiative to provide interested citizens in diverse communities with the electronic tools, training, and support to document the events of their daily lives.
Smallbean exists on the notion that recently retired but still functioning electronic gadgets collecting dust under your bed can be productive again in the hands of someone new. "I'm guilty of it so I know that there are lots of other people out there with iPods that have been replaced by iPhones and digital cameras that have plenty of megapixels just chilling in the back of some cabinet in their house," says Hewens of the inspiration for the nonprofit. "When a gadget still functions we feel like we should hold onto it even though we don't use it because we know that it still has value. I thought it would be cool to not only share these gadgets with communities that might not be so fortunate, but to use them as tools to teach and share diverse life stories and cultures with the world."
The organization took seed in 2008 while Hewens was working as an attorney for the United Nations in Tanzania. Therefore, it is fitting that Smallbean is launching the Citizen Archivist Project at three public schools in Karatu, Tanzania in early 2010.
As part of the Citizen Archivist Project, Smallbean is working with students and teachers to supply technology such as computers, digital cameras, audio recording devices, and solar suitcases that participants will use to document their everyday lives. The electronic items and solar power system used during the Citizen Archivist Project will lay the foundation for permanent computer installations in the communities participating in the project. To complement the efforts internationally, Smallbean is creating an Internet accessible digital archive that will serve as an electronic library for the media collected by the Citizen Archivist Project. And in case you're wondering how your old iPod can help all of this, Hewens explains that a five dollar microphone used in conjunction with most recent iPods turns the device into a digital tape recorder.
Smallbean is happy to be affiliated with organizations such as Powdering Potential (www.poweringpotential.org), an establishment who's mission is to use technology to enhance the educational experiences of students in rural Tanzania, and We Care Solar (www.wecaresolar.com) a California-based organization that designs and constructs solar power installations for hospitals in Africa and is supplying the Solar Suitcase - a low maintenance durable solar power source - for use in Smallbean's Citizen Archive Project pilot launching next year.
For more info, and to find out how you can donate your electronics visit, http://www.smallbean.org.
Contact Info
smallbean
Phone: Not Given
Website: http://www.smallbean.org/
Smallbean Incorporated - 791 Tremont Street, Unit W206, Boston, MA 02118 -
ph. (617) 513-7676
