I’m so excited about this online purchase, $25 dollars to get this incredible, 100% recyclable umbrella by Ginkgo. That’s what I love about sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter, you can get in on the ground level and help support the creators and innovators and artists. I was blown away when I saw this Indiegogo campaign a few days ago. Living in the Pacific Northwest, the rain coast, the wet coast, the left coast, whatever you want to call it… it rains A LOT here and umbrellas are necessary.
Over 1 BILLION umbrellas lost or damaged every year. Ginkgo aims to save our landfills and our pocketbooks. Made entirely of 100% recyclable polypropylene, these umbrellas are able to resist strong winds by flexing without breaking or even bending. The hinges are designed to withstand thousands of open/close cycles. Created with plastic injection moulding, each part can be coloured as desired, for an infinite variety of possibilities.
“Umbrellas on the market today are theoretically made of recyclable materials such as metal, plastic and wood. However, they can’t be recycled as they are. They’d need to be disassembled to be properly disposed of, which means that most of them just end up going to landfill…a big waste of resources. The polyester canopy, as an example, takes up to 100 years to biodegrade.”
“Ginkgo is made entirely in a single material. All the parts, from the canopy’s fabric to the seams’ thread, from the pole to the closing button, are made from polypropylene. All the fastening elements, such as screws, pivots and especially glue, have been replaced by integrated snap-fit elements. Thanks to these solutions, when Ginkgo finally reaches the end of its useful life you can just toss it in the recycle bin. No need to disassemble the components.”
“Since all the components are made by injection molding, Ginkgo is ready to be made with zero-impact biodegradable polymers or, alternatively, to be produced in a cradle-to-cradle system, where all the material is completely recovered at the end of the product’s life and reused to produce it once again.”
There’s still some time to get in on this one. Wouldn’t you love to walk around with one of these umbrellas!
Find out more at the Ginkgo Umbrella Indiegogo campaign.
C.
PS – you can get black or custom colours.
PPS – shipping to Canada add $9, shipping to US add $5. I didn’t know this until after my purchase!
