Ice Kool

“Homeless people are not ‘those’ people; they are my neighbors and friends,” says Marilyn Kaufman, who lives in Washington, DC. Her dream of creating real jobs for homeless people recently found a suitable vehicle—a solar-powered ice cream vending cart. Incorporating a new, super-efficient insulation, the carts will be the rolling stock of “DC Kool Ice,” Kaufman’s start-up venture that employs the homeless as vendors. Cooled by solar power instead of dry ice, the carts save about $20,000 in yearly energy costs for a fleet of 12, which allows Kaufman to pay her vendors a realistic living wage of $10 and hour.