10 December Kickstarter Campaigns We Love
A totally genius way to cook eggs, sick beats for your cat and temporary freckle tattoos: Kickstarter has brought them all to you. And there’s still so much goodness out there in the world, just waiting to be funded! Whether you give one dollar or a thousand, every bit helps. Here are 10 Kickstarter campaigns you might be interested in — throw your leftover holiday shopping dough their way!
1. Uphill Designs: This adventure company is looking for some cash flow to help create three signature backpack styles. Named after each of the three US trails that make up the “Triple Crown” (Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trail), these backpacks and messenger bags are as durable as they are stylish. The campaign ends December 22, with a goal of getting production out by July of next year — just in time for the 100th anniversary of the National Parks System.
2. EmpowerPanty: The mission of the company is empowerment. They want to give underserved girls in developing countries the dignity they deserve every day through simple, well-designed underwear. Wearing these panties allows them to go to school — many girls often stay home while on their periods — and not miss a single beat. If you buy a pair, a pair is given to a gal in one of these communities. Learn more about the BeGirl program and their quest to educate girls around the world on how menstruation is not shameful by visiting their website.
3. Living Ink: Attention, artists: This one is super cool. Living Ink is like the reverse of invisible ink. Through time lapse, it “grows” in a “greenhouse” (aka special holder) to reveal your once-unseen creations. Oh, and it’s nontoxic too. They’ve already met their goal, but they have stretches that they can meet with your support. It might be hard to wait until June to get this very scientific, very rad card and ink set.
4. Italynthebox: Italy is known for their amazing vistas, cool fashion and, most of all, their delicious food. While it’s not always possible to just jet across the Atlantic, it is possible to get culinary gems straight to your door from Italynthebox (that’s “Italy in the box”). Two Italians living in New York source the best products for you, available monthly or bi-monthly. They wrap up December 26, so if you want fine Italian meat and cheese in your future, give now!
5. TRUEnergy: When two former college atheletes put their heads together, they realized so many of their cohort were taking supplements, vitamins, powders and more every single day to help them perform better. They also noted that those usually contained a whole bunch of nasty chemicals. TRUEnergy is all natural and gives you the energy, vitamins and electrolytes you need in one single go.
6. Figment: The future of Virtual Reality (VR) is here, folks, and boy does it look good. Figment wants to take it mobile and make it easy to experience virtual reality on the go through your phone. You simply flip down the glasses, fire up your favorite VR app and take your unique experiences anywhere.
7. SmartEgg: Using Bluetooth technology, this smart “egg” can send infrared signals to most home appliances to do things such as turn on your lights, control your temperature or even turn on the toaster and toast your bread for you at the same time each morning. Imagine walking into your living room after work and the lights and TV come on without you having to lift a finger. Sounds awesome, right? They’re more than halfway there, so put a few dollars to good use and help SmartEgg become a reality.
8. Sleep Yoga tataME Bed: This company wants to change the way you think about the thickness of your mattress. They want to prove that if you have a high-quality, thin mattress, it can work just as well or even better than the super thick kind most of us sleep on now. Thinner mattresses mean lower production costs, and in turn, lower cost for you.
9. The Hummingbird Folding Bike: Imagine a bike so light, you can lift it with one finger. The Hummingbird bike wants to be just that for the commuters out there. It’s also foldable, saving precious space in your apartment, the subway, elevators and your office. It’s not cheap (about $1400), but if you regularly spend money on bikes or public transportation, this might be a great investment.
10. The Grove EcoSystem: Using aquaponics, or a fish and plant ecosystem, now you can naturally grow vegetables in your own home through the fish, plants and good bacteria that occur in this special aquarium. It’s soil free, adjustable and comes with a gardening app to help you along the way. The systems costs a pretty penny — $2,700 per model — but can you imagine the amount of money you’d save over time, plus how natural your produce would be? Their tagline is “Let’s bring food home again,” and it’s a brilliant concept.
Tell us in the comments which you think is the most exciting project!