Date
Spring 2023
Time
14 Weeks
Project Type
Product Design I Sustainable Design
Contribution
Individual Project
PROJECT BRIEF
In the present world, embracing sustainability is crucial for the well-being of our planet.
Our goal is to find an existing product benchmark, study it, and design a new product with less environmental impacts and better functions.
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I’m a landscape photographer, I often go to the wild to shoot. The most pleasing moment in the trips is to eat after traveling across mountains and rivers while taking the shots.
BENCHMARK
FIREMAPLE X1
The benchmark chosen is a set of outdoor cooking tableware. Because space is important when traveling, this is the smallest stove with one of the best functions on the market.
RESEARCH
Name: Lucy
Age: 22
Job: Student
I did camp and hike a lot, my family has a trailer car, and we went to camping in the wild quiet often. In the wild, there's no place for us to buy food and cook, we bring our food in the trailer and a portable stove and tableware to cook.
Research Trip
Bring the benchmark, the interviewees went to a 3-hour hiking trip, and used the benchmark to cook when they arrived the destination.
Experience:
"The grip is not really comfortable, especially when there's food inside.”
"Maybe you can combine the stove and dinner set into one and store them together."
Size and Space:
"The stove fits in the bag, however, the dinner set takes too many spaces.”
"I'm carrying other stuff in the bag, so the space management is quite difficult.”
Name: Devin
Age: 24
Job: Business owner
I don't go camping often, sometimes I go hiking and bring some sandwich with me. Not just traveling, whenever I go out, I only like to bring what I need, less the better for me.
Take It Apart
Taking apart the product allows me to discover the manufacturing process, and the detailed information of all of the materials used.
Short Product Life
Plastics, nylon, and complex structures not only increase the manufacturing process, but also caused environmental damage by more transportation process (of materials) and create waste.
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Product Life Cycle
Complex Structure
Polluting Fuel
PP and PC Plastics may erode and fade faster under harsh environmental conditions (high temperatures, UV exposure, moisture, etc.). And the electrostatically fire system is not stable in such a condition.
Methane is a natural gas whose main source is fossil fuels. It is not a renewable energy source, and its greenhouse effect by combustion is several times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
DESIGN GOALS
Redefine the outdoor dining experience by integrating sustainability into every aspect of the product. Through innovative solutions and refining manufacturing, aim to minimize the ecological footprint while maximizing the enjoyment of outdoor cooking.
Reduce the size
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Reduce material types
Eco friendly fuel
Zero waste
Better experience
Alcohol is a renewable material, because the raw material of alcohol are plants. The combustion of alcohol creates a small amount of carbon dioxide and water vapor. The use alcohol stove instead of methane reduces the environmental pollution.
Material - Titanium
Titanium has the properties of lightweight, high strength, good corrosion resistant and it is a long-lasting material. The use of titanium (for most of the product) reduces the production steps, extends product life and benefits the recycling process.
Alcohol Stove
PROCESS
Sketches
Few arounds of sketches to brainstorm the concepts.
Mockups
Scaled and real sized models to test out the shape, size and ergonomics.
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INTRODUCING
Sustainable outdoor cooking set for 1-2 person on short trips, designed with eco-friendly materials, long lasting (lifetime use) and zero waste. Compact for easy packing, simple meal prep and enjoy outdoor dining while minimizing environmental impact.
TREK+COOK
Lock
Press
Unlock
Flip
Protruding blocker locks the foldable grip, using the bendable nature of metal, press on both sides to unlock and flip the handle.
Consideration of
Heat
Dissipating heat by lengthening and increasing surface area of the handle, so that the heat will not hurt the user.
Make it
Stable
Details
The texture on the top of the stand and the bottom of the pot stuck with each other, enable to make the pot more stable.
SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS
Simple & Eco
Material
Long
Lasting
Recyclable
(No Waste)
Product Life Cycle Before
10 materials
~27 transportation steps
Wastes are created
Greenhouse gases are produced (while using)
50%
Better
Due to minimize the manufacturing process, selection of long lasting and recyclable material, with zero-waste design, the environmental damage has been reduced by 50% less than the benchmark.
Product Life Cycle After
4 materials
~12 transportation steps
No Waste is created
Greenhouse gases production has been reduced
