1. The ‘Folded Take-away” is a clever crepe holder design created by Lauren Schimming from the University of Kansas. This product was specifically created for the company AB Coffee and Crepes. Lauren was a regular customer and every time she went she noticed that they were using Styrofoam clam-shell take out boxes and she decided to take action and invent something that was eco-friendly and would be able to be multifunctional. The design she came up with is shaped like a flat cone that will cradle the crepe so it won’t get all over the place. The main “sustainable strategy” here is that the casing turns into a plate so that the person eating the crepe can have something to eat off of without having to grab a separate plate to add to the trash.
2. Everyone wants to reduce the amount of waste that they accumulate on a day-to-day basis. This can all start at lunchtime. We all want to save money so we bring our lunches to our jobs. Product designer Crystal Figlietti was the award-winning designer of the ‘Reusable Fresh Snack Pack.’ The company of this product is Go Fresh. The bags are made up of PVC-free non-toxic plastic and are made up of thick EVA (Ethylene-vinyl acetate), which allows it to be reusable. This snack pack was tested at a school for a whole year and the results were that the bags were being used for the next school year!
3. The 60 Bag is probably one of the most interesting sustainable products in the market today. Instead of using plastic bags that are harmful to the earth, Poland designers Katarzyna Okinczc and Remigiusz Truchanowicz came up with a fully biodegradable bag that degrades in 60 days. This product is made up of “flax-viscose non-woven fabric.” This material according to their website means that the flax-viscose fabric is produced with flax fiber industrial waste and it doesn’t exploit any natural resources and requires minimal energy during its production. There are also a variety of designs to choose from.
4. Puma shoes have been around for a long time. In an effort to make a change to help the environment Puma has teamed up with the amazing designer of Fuseproject, Yves Behar. It took 40 prototypes to finally come up with the best shoebox design. The final product they came up with was named the “Clever Little Bag.” It uses 65% less paper and reduces the amount of water, energy, and diesel consumption by 60%. With this design it allows the consumer to reuse the outer bag as a reusable tote.
5. Having a party would require a lot of cleaning up after it’s all over especially with dishes. The last thing we want to do is use plates that are disposable and harmful to the environment. There is a solution to help this and it involves no washing dishes! A company called BAMBU designed a fully biodegradable set of utensils and plates. Their main tagline is, “a brand of distinctive products made from renewable materials created with imagination and integrity. Design with the Planet in Mind.” Everything that this company designs is entirely made up of renewable and recycled materials. This product has been tested and it is fully biodegradable and it disintegrates completely.
