Cardboard

Card Radio was conceived as an environmentally friendly piece of consumer electronics, presumably with the mass market in mind. Its entire housing is made from recyclable, though not recycled, cardboard. Despite its low cost and eco-credentials, Card Radio aims not to sacrifice elegance, harkening back to the 1960s aesthetic that designer Chris McNicholl claims as its influence.  Read More

Canadian design firm Molo has created a cheap and comfortable housing innovation for disaster relief situations.. Dubbed "softshelter," the system has been designed to create personal space within in a communal shelter, thus providing individuals or families with some privacy during a time of hardship. The softshelter modules are made from 100 percent recycled materials designed for re-use over a long period if time. The flexible walls pack flat, suitable for fast and cost effective shipping, whilst in a matter of minutes the softwalls can be unpacked and expanded to create walls and rooms.  Read More

Corrugated cardboard can be traced back to the latter part of the mid-19th century, although cardboard itself goes back much farther than that. Most of us will have encountered it at some time, probably as the outer packaging of our latest digital must-have, but it has recently been breaking away from such traditional uses. Over the past few years, we've seen everything from a cardboard record player to a festival tent to a USB drive. Now, industrial design student Jake Tyler has created a prototype cardboard vacuum cleaner - the Vax ev.  Read More

We've seen the cardboard record player and cardboard USB sticks, now another design that thinks outside the (cardboard) box - the foldable phone concept. Created by Chengyuan Wei, the Origami phone handset comes flat and like a pop-up book, transforms into a 3D handset with a few simple folds ... oh, and it's recyclable.  Read More

Russian-based design studio Art. Lebedev of Optimus keyboard fame has turned its hand to data storage with the disposable, recyclable "Flashkus" USB stick concept.  Read More

Jerry Seinfeld once commented that when you’re moving, your whole life becomes centered around finding cardboard boxes. While some moving companies will sell boxes to you, after the move you’re then stuck with them, and end up either recycling them after just one use, or filling your basement/garage/attic with the things. If you don’t want to scrounge for free boxes or waste the ones you get, however, there is now an alternative – you can rent some reusable polyethylene Frogboxes.  Read More

We've all seen the photos – the absolute devastation at the end of a festival after the revelers have gone home. A number of organizations are turning this waste into green industry including Vanessa Harden and friends at Do The Green Thing who have designed a biodegradable tent that will decompose post-party and replenish the soil in the process.  Read More

This one-size-fits-all packaging concept delivers an efficient way to send an item by reducing bulk and cost while keeping your goods safe from bumps and scrapes in transit. The clever Universal Packaging System (UPACKS) system – not be confused with UPS (United Parcel Service) – from designer Patrick Sung uses perforated sheets made from recyclable corrugated cardboard that can snugly pack almost any shaped item, whilst reducing the need to pad-out empty spaces.  Read More

How do you get a heavy box across town without using a delivery truck, car or taxi? That’s where the Move-it could help – it’s a cleverly designed kit, made of self-adhesive cardboard parts that stick on your box and transform it into a lightweight trolley. And would you believe it’s entirely made of cardboard – including the wheels, axle and chassis?  Read More