If I’ve learned anything since I’ve been here in Ecuador it is that innovation is key. I don’t mean innovation in the sense of the big, huge ideas (aka big hairy ideas) that people share at TED conferences, although those are cool too. What I mean are the little innovations that we practice each and every day. I think it was Plato who said: “Necessity is the mother of invention.“
Maybe it’s because I have more time or maybe it’s because I am living in a place without access to as many resources as I had in New York City, but I’ve been practicing more inventing. Not that I didn’t innovate before – we all do in small ways. It’s just that now I’m doing it more often and with different applications so I am noticing it more.
AAn example: we couldn’t run out to Bed, Bath & Beyond or Ikea to buy a shoe rack so Paul repurposed some old wooden shelves and the half-used buckets of paint we had lying around the house to create a shoe rack. Does it work? Of course it does. Did it cost anything? Nope. Does it look as good as the stainless steel one we would have bought in our old life in NYC? No. Actually, I think it looks better. Why? Because it has personality, it’s better for the environment, it gives little used items a new place to be, and above all it’s functional.
Below you will see a few more innovations that we have put into place around our Peace Corps pad. I think my new motto is going to be: Innovate Every Day!
Clothing Rack
Materials used: A piece of cane found during a recent beach clean-up, varnish, rope, and two eye hooks.
Bead Drying Rack
Materials used: paperclips (three per small rack), wooden skewer, plastic bag, bowl, and tape.
Coasters
