Tag Archives: reusable

Glucose monitor and insulin pump concept is a sustainable way to keep tabs on diabetes

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Of the many disorders that afflict people today, diabetes is perhaps the literally most painful one to monitor and maintain. Even with advancements in medical technology, pricking your finger is still the most accurate way to measure blood sugar levels. At the same time, taking in insulin often involves painful and tedious injections. And it isn’t just humans who are hurting from these, but the environment also suffers from all the waste these life-saving tools produce. It’s probably high time to have a glucose monitor and insulin delivery system that is not only painless and convenient but also sustainable, which is exactly what this minimalist-looking device concept is proposing.

Designer: Maxwell Stevens

CGMs or Continuous Glucose Monitors are one of the less invasive methods of keeping tabs on your blood sugar levels, though most do require inserting a sensor under the skin that is read by a device that sticks to your body over that site. When it comes to injecting insulin, on the other hand, insulin pumps remove the need to always pierce your skin for every injection, as a needle stays in its position for a day or two before needing to be replaced, unless the pump is one that actually stays on your body and above your skin. If these two devices sound almost related, it’s because they really are, and the Ingo CGM and insulin pump concept actually combines these two functions into a single, reusable, and sustainable device.

This oval-shaped device combines two critical functions in a single compact design that diabetes patients can discreetly wear on their bodies. Ingo can even have different colors to match skin tones so they won’t stand out as much as more obvious medical devices. There’s also the element of convenience as the device can be easily recharged on a wireless base, while the CGM sensor and pump needle are integrated into the sensor patches that stick over your skin.

Ingo also differs from existing CGMs and insulin pumps in the way that it tries to reduce the amount of waste as much as possible. Instead of disposable parts, it uses reusable components and recyclable patches, lessening the burden on the environment that these solutions often place on the planet. The rechargeable device and refillable insulin tank also prolong the life of the product or at least those parts that shouldn’t have to be thrown away frequently. Ingo is definitely an interesting proposal for a more humane and more environment-friendly way to keep diabetes patients living healthy and meaningful lives while also taking care of the planet they’re living on.

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3D-Printed from food-grade silicone, Reusable is a collapsable, pocket-friendly cup you can carry anywhere

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Recycle and Reuse have become the buzzwords today. Most materials – single-use plastic excluded – are being recycled, and some plastic items such as bottles are reused to restrict them from reaching the landfills. Plastic pollution is therefore a big menace globally that designers are trying to solve with potentially innovative ideas. In that league we came across the Reusable: a collapsable, reusable cup that is made from food-grade material and fits right in your pocket so you can carry it wherever your routine takes you.

Disposable paper cups have been around for a long time now. Not essentially made with the purpose of being reused, such cups have to reach the landfills after one time use. All right, some of these to-go cups are recyclable, but some paper cups contain a plastic or wax coating – to prevent leaks – rending their unrecyclable. This is where a solution like the Reusable makes a lot of sense, not essentially because it can be recycled at the end of life, but since it can be reused a multitude of times before it can be retired from the lifecycle.

Designer: Kalina Gotseva

The brainchild of British-designed Kalina Gotseva, the Reusable has been 3D printed from durable, food-grade silicone. Made in a unique twisted design, after thousands of iterations on paper and other materials, the Reusable is made collapsable, transforming the cup from a full-sized option to a compact form factor that allows it to fit in the pocket.

Making a silicone cup with all the intricacies to make it reusable, the cup is a direct benefit product for millions of tea and coffee drinkers around the world, whose day wouldn’t start with the pipping hot beverage picked from the driveway in a throwaway one time use cup. This scenario could change with the benefit of Reusable which you can flip out of your pocket and have your drink served to you in it.

With the foldable and reusable design, the question of safety and convenience does arise in the mind. Gotseva has taken care of every detail, starting with making the entire foldable design self-contained. For that, the designer ensured that the body of the cup folds down flat and it can then fit securely in its cap to remain intact and dust-free in your pocket/bag. The protective cap is not just the Reusable’s case, in fact it has a tested push-and-pull slider on the drinking hole, which offers leak-proof convenience, so you can carry and drink your beverage safely, at your convenience.

The Reusable despite all the nifty features has sleek aesthetics paired with an ergonomic grip and three interesting color choices to pick a cup that matches your style. Created from BPA-free silicone, the cups are colored – with food-safe options – during the injection molding process. These are available in dark blue, light aquamarine, and vibrant orange colors to choose from. I don’t know about you, but I’m waiting for the Reusable to hit the market. My pick is orange, what’s yours?

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Cardboard water bottle concept shows a more sustainable way to stay hydrated

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We’re often advised to drink lots of water every day, but that isn’t always feasible unless we have a bottle of water with us all the time. It’s for this reason that water bottles have become quite popular these days, but many of these containers are large, heavy, and sometimes unsustainable. The latter is especially true for PET bottles, the most overused kind of water container there is. Its small, lightweight size makes it easy to carry around and its plastic material might make it seem like a good idea to reuse the bottle over and over again. Whatever the context, plastic is a harmful material in the long run, so this reusable and sustainable water bottle looks elsewhere for inspiration, one that’s easily overlooked and taken for granted because we simply throw away milk and juice boxes the moment they’ve been emptied.

Designer: Rishikesh Sonawane

It might have different names in different countries, but “TetraPak” is a common sight in groceries and refrigerators, holding liquids like milk, juice, and sometimes even soup. These cardboard containers are indeed designed to be thrown away, but there’s no reason one can’t design a variant that can hang around for quite a while before you have to part ways, primarily by recycling its parts. It lets you keep yourself healthy by drinking lots of water while also keeping the planet healthy by reducing the number of PET bottles out in the wild.

reU is the design concept that puts those ideas together, utilizing a layer of cardboard, aluminum, and polyethylene to provide form and structure to the water bottle shaped like an overgrown flask. These three materials were specifically chosen after much consideration because of their long-term benefits and ease of production, despite there being more sustainable alternatives available. Cardboard is better than paper mache when it comes to integrity and finish, aluminum is cheap and easily stretched into extremely thin sheets, and polyethylene, which is used in only 5% of the total design, is easy to produce.

The design, however, goes beyond just using sustainable materials. The shape of the “bottle”, for example, was chosen for space efficiency and easier grip. The dotted bottle cap made from bioplastic offers not just texture for turning the cap but also a visual contrast to the vertical lines running down the side of the bottle. The rubber tab keeps the cap in place and functions as a strap to hold or hang the bottle, but it can also be retracted to keep the cap from swinging around while you’re drinking or pouring out its contents.

Despite being a reusable bottle, reU isn’t meant to last forever. In fact, it’s designed to wear out to the point that you’ll have to properly dispose of it by recycling each distinct component separately and properly. This ensures that the water you drink will always be clean and safe, something that PET bottles can guarantee after repeated use. And given how cheap it is to produce and how easy it is to recycle, there’s little harm in replacing the reU with another reU, over and over again.

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