The Hippo Roller has had a re-design, for those of you who don’t know what I am on about the Hippo Roller is a simple polyethylene barrel that African villagers can fill with water and roll back to their homes by means of a handle, rather than having to carry it all the way back. Designed by Project H nearly 30,000 Hippos were produced and distributed thanks to the largesse of donors.

But while the design of the Roller was sound, manufacturing and delivery logistics were getting in the way--the seemingly simple device was costing $100 each to make and ship, meaning the donations of so many would only go so far.

The San Francisco chapter of Project H then went back to the drawing board, redesigned the Roller in two pieces that could be nested, drastically reducing shipping costs; adding a cap to the barrels and making both stackable means more than 250% more of them can be shipped in the same container.

Of course, that also means re-tooling the molds, which isn't cheap. Project H is now trying to raise the remaining $5,000 to cut new steel by putting out a call for 200 people to each donate $25.

Via: Core77