Innovations are constantly improving our world, especially when it comes to tackling global inequality.

With brainpower and skill, inventors are taking on the world's biggest problems with tenacity and creativity. In September alone, innovators created an edible drone to deliver food-based aid and a 3D-printed clitoris to better educate children on women's health and sexuality.

SEE ALSO:The 9 most impressive social good innovations from August

Though inventions like these create tangible change on a global scale, we rarely acknowledge the massive impact of innovation. And we need to change that.

These eight impressive innovations took on big issues in September.

1. The 3D-printed clitoris making sex ed more inclusive

Credit: Fab Lab

Sexual education around the world is notoriously out-of-touch -- and France is no exception. In June, a French NGO focused on gender equality published a scathing report criticizing sex ed curricula in the country's public schools, saying it dangerously overlooked women's sexuality.

Sociomedical researcher Odile Fillodan is looking to change that -- with an anatomically accurate 3D-printed clitoris. Developed by Fillod, the wishbone-shaped clitoris made its way to French primary and secondary classrooms last month, hoping to demystify the often misunderstood sexual organ and increase equality in sex ed.

2. New blind-friendly five dollar note

Credit: Reserve Bank of Australia

The new Australian five dollar note, released on Sept. 1, was designed with inclusivity in mind. It features a tactile element to help people with no or low vision to identify the bill easily. The change was inspired by 15-year-old Connor McLeod, who set up a Change.org petition three years ago, calling for more inclusivity in currency.

After amassing more than 57,000 signatures, the Reserve Bank of Australia responded to McLeod's call, saying future iterations of Australian currency would have tactile markings -- and it kept its promise.

Other features of the new notes include varying lengths, bright colors and larger type to better fit the needs of blind people and those with low vision.

3. A simple system keeping vaccines viable

Credit: Barron prize

Sixteen-year-old inventor Anurudh Ganesan created a life-saving innovation at an age when many are still learning STEM basics. His invention, called VAXXWAGON, is a wheel-powered cooling system that keeps vaccines viable during the final stages of transport.

His "no ice, no electricity" innovation is designed specifically for remote regions with low or no water or electrical access. VAXXWAGON can be hitched to a bicycle or simply pulled by a person or animal, with a turning wheel keeping the vaccine properly cooled. The innovation was one of 15 winners of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes last month, a competition rewarding young people changing the world through social good initiatives and innovations.

Mashable Light SpeedWant more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter.By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Thanks for signing up!

4. The inexpensive machine turning water into energy

Credit: BARRON Prize

BEACON, which also won the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes in September, is a simple and inexpensive device that converts the kinetic energy of ocean tides -- or any moving body of water -- into usable electricity. An impressive 90 percent of the device is made of recycled materials easily found around the globe, including 2-liter bottles and recycled spoons.

The invention, created by 15-year-old Hannah Herbst, costs about $12 to make, but has the potential to produce enough electricity to power an LED light bulb. Herbst publish her design in an open-source platform, hoping to allow humanitarian agencies to make the design available to anyone who needs it.

5. A new app connecting hungry teens to meals

View this post on Instagram

The majority of homeless teens have a cellphone, but many do not have access to adequate nutrition. Last month, Not Impossible Labs announced its latest project to tackle hunger using tech -- an app dubbed Hunger: Not Impossible.

Announced at the 2016 Social Good Summit in September, the app sends twice-daily notifications to hungry youth, asking whether they would like to order a meal. If they say yes, they are given location where they can pick up their prepared meal.

Hunger: Not Impossible is currently in a pilot phase, but has already connected homeless and hungry teens to hundreds of free meals.

6. The device that allowed one poet to read her work aloud for the first time

Pennsylvania-based poet Arlyn Edelstein lives with non-verbal cerebral palsy, meaning she has been unable to read her poetic work aloud for her entire career -- until September.

Thanks to a device created by Mary Elizabeth McCulloch, a recent Penn State biomedical engineering graduate, the poet recently had her first public poetry reading.

Using a speech augmentation device called Voz Box, the poet was able to share her work out loud by pressing her foot to a sensor, which worked with an interconnected earpiece to construct sentences and phrases in specific timing dictated by Edelstein. Fittingly, the theme of the night was “My Voice, My Power."

“I never thought that I would have the opportunity of having people hear my work,” Edelstein told the Daily Collegian, a Penn State-based student paper, about the innovation.

7. An edible drone that delivers humanitarian aid

Credit: Windhorse Aerospace

Drones are extremely helpful in delivering aid during a disaster, especially in reaching remote locations in a flash. The only thing better than a drone? An edibledrone.

Announced this month, this inexpensive drone -- called Pouncer -- is designed to deliver humanitarian aid, and then be broken down by communities to use for immediate disaster relief. According to creators from the startup Windhorse Aerospace, the drone's plywood frame is designed to be used as firewood. The wings of the drone are also packed with food, while the protective covers around the food can double as material for shelter.

Though a seemingly strange concept, the inventors of Pouncer are hopeful the design can revolutionize aid in the aftermath of natural disasters. The team hopes the drones will be up and running in 2017.

8. The new invention that could make smuggling wildlife a lot harder

Credit: USAID Video/YOutube

With more than 10 million aquarium fish passing through the U.S. each year, keeping track of endangered species -- the trading of which is illegal -- is notoriously difficult. A shipment that's legally documented frequently contains illegal wildlife. But without a way of knowing what's in a box, officials have a hard time limiting and prosecuting illicit trade.

A tablet-based platform, created by the New England Aquarium in Boston, could help officials tackle this issue simply by making it easier to identify what's in a shipment. The platform allows officials to quickly track the route of a wildlife shipment via digital invoices, quickly scanning for any signs of smuggling or illegal trade through a comprehensive database and algorithm.

The innovation was announced as one of four finalists for the Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge, which awarded the aquarium with $225,000, according to USAID.

TopicsSocial Good