Sondre Frost Urstad's Cupkin, a Recycling Unit for Fast Food Chains
by on 01.28.05
Sondre Frost Urstad developed Cupkin (cup + napkin) as a prototype, and received a Young Talent Award from the Norwegian Design Council in 2003, but since he brought it to our attention, we think it deserves a mention still today. What it is, is a machine that handles waste and recycles disposable cutlery in fast-food restaurants. When you put a cup into the machine, you can see it being shredded to pieces and then sorted. From that “waste” napkins are made—the same ones available in the restaurants...
The resulting napkins also feature an image and phrase (“Reincarnated as a napkin!” and “In my other life I was a cup!”) that refers to the cups from which they were made and reminds people to “close the loop.” This is an awesome idea not only because of its utter usefulness, but also because it depicts the value of recycling in a really hands on manner that even a kid could understand. Bravo Sondre! Hope you get this one into production. :: Norwegian Design Council [by MO]
