According to the statistics, more than 30% of the rubbish is packaged garbage in the urban areas.Over-packaging becomes the huge problem because it makes up over 50% of the packaged garbage.and food package that we see in our daily life is the most evident category in over-packaging issue.
We explored the causes for over-packaging from different aspects.
+ The merchants : driven by profits so they exaggerate the advantage of packaging.
+ The customers : the honor of giving decent gifts and irrational consumption lead to the problem.
Besides, relevant laws and regulations are not refined in Taiwan. Profits greater than penalties causes the emulation of enterprises to over-packaging.
Why a Cup Sleeve?
In many people's busy daily lives, the day often starts with a cup of hand-brewed coffee from a café or, in the afternoon, a refreshing cup of bubble tea. While eco-friendly cup sleeves have become more common, most people still use the disposable cup sleeves provided by stores.
Our attention was first drawn to the wasteful use of paper in the takeaway paper bags provided by Starbucks, which also make it easy for drinks to spill during transport. This sparked our desire to address the excessive packaging problem behind these inefficient designs.
So... We Design an Eco-Friendly Cup Sleeve with Minimal Paper Usage
Currently, the cup sleeves provided on the market are mostly made from rough recycled paper or non-environmentally friendly plastic bags. There are also packaging materials made from seaweed, which are more earth-friendly.
However, considering the need for hands-on testing and weight-bearing capacity, we purchased the thinnest and most easily accessible cardboard available on the market for experimentation. Our focus was on designing a disposable cup sleeve that uses the minimal paper area possible, optimizing paper resource usage.
Sketch
Prototype
To achieve maximum load-bearing capacity and stability with the least amount of paper material, an S-shaped structure was used to surround and support the paper cup. The S-shaped cut design also reduces waste from corner scraps. The cup sleeve features a simple trapezoidal notch design, making it easy for stores to quickly assemble the sleeves.
