Staples announced seven finalists for the Staples Global EcoEasy Challenge, which asked entrants to come up with innovative concepts for an environmentally friendly office product.
In partnership with the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability, the office products supplier issued a call to action to leading technology institutions around the world.
Students had to develop a new design of an existing product that represents greater environmental responsibility or sustainability, one that uses an eco-innovative material, or a completely new product that promotes sustainability.
Final concepts include a desk chair that controls office power consumption to avoid wasted energy, a shredder with reduced power consumption and a binder that uses an innovative adjustment mechanism.
Staples’ Vice President of Environmental Affairs Mark Buckley said: “The Global EcoEasy Challenge is a way for students from some of the world’s leading technology institutions to apply their design and engineering expertise to develop a product that will benefit the greater good.”
Dr Nabil Nasr of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability said: “We issued this challenge to the next generation of environmental and engineering leaders and the intellectual capital returned combines innovation and environmental awareness.”
The finalist teams include:
Indian Institute of Technology Madras (India)
Concept: A desk chair that controls office power consumption to avoid wasted energy
Concept: A shredder with innovative technology to reduce power consumption
Concept: A more eco-responsible take on the pen that significantly increases the product’s lifespan
University of California, Berkeley (US)
Concept: A mini-stapler made from environmentally preferable materials
Engineering of Piracicaba (Brazil)
Concept: A line of desk and drawer organization tools made out of a local, sustainable material
Technical University of Berlin (Germany)
Concept: A writing instrument designed for easy recycling when no longer usable
University of New South Wales (Australia)
Concept: A binder that uses an innovative adjustment mechanism
The final decision will take place on April 20.