Why Sustainable Inventions that Help the Environment are Today’s Biggest Trend

Why is building new inventions that help the environment the latest hot trend?

Well, humans produce… and humans also consume. It’s a cyclical process that propels the world forward. As a species, we continuously build or purchase new inventions to help us be more productive or happier in our daily lives. 

However, to bring these inventions to life, we rely on natural resources, raw materials, and a wealth of other resources drawn from our environment. The more we extract from the environment, the more time our planet needs to replenish itself and heal from human intervention.

To put it into perspective, if the global population reaches 9.6 billion by 2050, we would need almost three planets’ worth of natural resources just to maintain our current lifestyles.

Greenhouse gas emissions are projected to drop by six percent in 2020 due to flight and travel restrictions and economic turmoil caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, the United Nations expects emissions to begin rising again as the global economy recovers.

As a global community, we can no longer ignore the clear evidence indicating the drastic, negative impact our patterns of unsustainable production and consumption have on our environment and health.

Thankfully, we’ve seen an upward trend in acknowledgment and awareness of these harmful patterns – a green evolution, if you will – as well as an increase in the development of inventions that are specifically designed to help heal the environment.

From biodegradable shopping bags to energy-efficient lightbulbs to electric vehicles, we are seeing more inventors and brands promulgating the short and long-term effects of replacing unsustainable products with eco-friendly alternatives that help reverse the harm we’ve enacted on our planet.

What is a Sustainable Invention that Helps the Environment? 

Sustainable inventions help protect the environment, our health, and our long-term well-being as a society. They consider every step of the product development process, from the second the companies extract raw materials to make a product to the end of the product’s lifecycle, to ensure the environment is protected at every level.

As a leading product development firm that provides product design services, we understand that building a sustainable invention requires careful planning and consideration. This entails ensuring material selections, manufacturing process, and the amount of energy used to make or employ the product are meticulously thought through so there is a minimal environmental impact – without compromising on quality or user experience.

As such, many sustainable inventions that will help the environment have at least one or more of the properties listed below:

1. Recyclable
2. Reusable
3. Use less plastic
4. Work towards realizing an environmental goal

1. Sustainable Inventions are Recyclable

The growing trend of creating recyclable products has been popular for quite some time now. Plastic waste, in particular, has become a primary issue championed by environmentalists and environmentally-conscious brands, as the buildup of discarded plastic waste in public areas such as parks, forests, beaches, and our oceans has been exponentially increasing for years.

Creating a product with recycled or recyclable materials is a great route to pursue if you’re looking to develop a sustainable invention. There’s a reason it’s so popular. It allows consumers to know if they ever need to dispose of their product, should it break or is no longer needed, that it can be disposed of in the safest way possible without negatively affecting the environment. 

Using recyclable, biodegradable, or recycled material is also a clever way to make your product more alluring while contributing to the protection of the environment. Your customers will feel more reassured knowing that their product won’t end up in a landfill for years.

2. Sustainable Inventions are Reusable

A huge trend in the product design world that many inventors and innovators are tapping into is creating reusable inventions. These products have been incredibly effective in replacing and eliminating the need for single-use products that contribute to huge amounts of waste, such as plastic cutlery or grocery bags.

Reusable products have less to do with material selection and more to do with prioritizing longevity, functionality, and durability! Thus, thinking of innovative ways to develop a long-lasting sustainable invention is key to creating a successful reusable product.

Metal straws are a great example of a new reusable invention that has helped eliminate the need for plastic straws, which frequently end up in the ocean where they can harm marine life. These straws soared in popularity after their immense impact on the environment was brought to light in recent years.

Creating a reusable product is also a great way to offer additional value to your consumers. It provides greater long-term value, as consumers can view purchasing the product as a long-term investment.

3. Sustainable Inventions Use Less Plastic

Opting to create a product that doesn’t use any plastic at all is another way to contribute to sustainability and environmental protection efforts as an inventor or product business owner. 

Plastics are one of the leading contributors to a number of detrimental environmental issues. Plastic waste takes decades to degrade, releasing hazardous chemicals into the earth and poisoning animal life that are unable to distinguish food from human waste.

A large segment of modern consumers are looking for better ways to invest in products that don’t harm the planet or our animal life and reduce their environmental footprint. 

Looking for more ways to boost the appeal of your sustainable product design? Try creating a plastic-free invention that instead uses materials that don’t harm the environment when properly disposed of. 

For example, you can try incorporating materials such as glass or metal into your new product design. Not only will this result in a higher-quality product, but consumers will also be less likely to throw it out and more likely to repurpose it.

4. Sustainable Inventions Work Towards a Goal

You’ve probably heard about vertical farming, but have you heard of vertical forests?

Vertical forests fight air pollution while providing a livable habitat for other animals. As the name implies, they refer to buildings that are engulfed by trees and bushes. A vertical forest is a fantastic example of a sustainable invention that helps the environment by working towards specific goals.

The results are visually breathtaking! 

Picture concrete columns covered with dense and lush greenery that provide shade and a livable environment for birds and insects. In addition, the plants and trees act as natural dust filters while absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen to boost the surrounding air quality – even in highly urbanized areas.

Examples Of Sustainable Inventions that Help the Environment

Below, we highlight a few innovative inventions that have been specifically designed to help nourish or protect the environment and are bending the needle back toward a sustainable future while providing immense value to consumers.

Biodegradable Burial Systems

In the US alone, companies cut down 4 million acres of hardwood forest annually to bury the deceased. Whether it’s to use the land itself for burials or to extract raw materials to build the coffin, putting our loved ones to rest has a profound impact on the environment.

Capsula Mundi invented an egg-shaped biodegradable burial pod made with plastics from organic materials. Bodies are positioned in the fetal position and placed in the pod. But how does this invention help the environment? Once buried, a tree grows on top and extracts nutrients from the burial pod.

They have also developed smaller biodegradable urns designed to hold the ashes of your loved ones. Like the burial pod, these urns are egg-shaped and made from biodegradable materials that have a low impact on the environment. They break down slowly to naturally allow the ashes to mix with the ground, which ensures the very high pH levels of the ash do not interfere with the growth of plants.

While the biodegradable urns are currently available for sale, the burial pods are still in the development phase. They require a more complex and comprehensively thought-through design process.

Compostable Tableware and Cutlery

Every day, it’s estimated that an entire truckload of plastic waste is dumped into the ocean. In fact, it’s expected that the amount of plastic garbage in the seas will triple by 2040.

Plastic cutlery and tableware make up a significant portion of the plastic pollution in our oceans. Cutlery and tableware made with polystyrene are incredibly harmful to the environment as it’s difficult to recycle and likely to end up in landfills.

However, there’s one company that’s helping reverse this trend – and in style. WASARA designs beautiful, minimalistic, and, most importantly, compostable tableware.

At first sight, it’s easy to mistake their tableware for tiny works of art. Indeed, these delicate and aesthetically flowing designs seem like the final piece for an elegant dinner party.

WASARA offers a wide range of products, including bowls, cups, plates, platters, trays, and cutlery.

These inventions help the environment because they are comprised of a mix of bamboo and bagasse. As these are 100 percent tree-free, renewable materials, WASARA tableware is fully biodegradable, thereby helping reduce their impact on the environment when disposed of.

That also means fewer dishes to wash – which is a win for you and for the environment.

Sustainable Toothpaste Tablets

In addition to the one billion toothpaste bottles that pollute our oceans every year, did you know disposed toothpaste tubes leave harsh chemical residues?

Bite invented a sustainable alternative that reinvents your daily oral-care routine. Their environmentally-friendly solution is called toothpaste bits. Remarkably, these small tablets foam up as normal toothpaste does and are plastic-free and cruelty-free. Bite’s toothpaste bits use clean ingredients free of nasty chemicals.

What’s particularly amazing about Bite’s initiative is its commitment to sustainability at every level of its process. To store the toothpaste bits, they use glass jars that are reusable and recyclable. Refills come in biodegradable and compostable pouches.

Even the packaging was carefully considered, as they use kraft envelopes padded with recycled newspapers. What about their boxes? They are also plastic-free and made from fully recyclable corrugated cardboard sealed with paper tape.

Solar Roof Shingles 

Solar shingles are a more aesthetically pleasing and less bulky version of solar panels. Both environmentally friendly inventions perform similar functions: they absorb the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity.

However, solar shingles are much more compact and designed to work like regular roof shingles. This means that in addition to providing you with electricity and helping you save money, they are also durable enough to protect your home in all weather conditions.

Copper indium gallium selenide is the most common material manufacturers use to build these thin and flexible solar tiles. Higher-end shingles made from monocrystalline silicon – the same material used to make computer chips – result in 15 to 20 percent more efficiency.

Renowned corporations like Tesla have already established themselves in the solar roof shingle industry. Made from quartz, their shingles offer much higher efficiency and durability compared to other materials. In addition, they take care of the end-to-end installation process, including removing your existing roof.

Final Notes

If you take anything from this exploration of sustainable inventions, take the notion that we’re capable of building inventions that help the environment without compromising on aesthetics, user experience, or quality.

Whether these inventions are recyclable, reusable, limit the use of plastics, or work towards a goal, what’s important is that we’re producing and consuming products that minimize the harm we enact on the environment.

At MAKO, we see how impactful inventors who are inspired to make a difference in the world are. We love to take on sustainable projects in our work, like our client’s Festken reusable bottle, which helps eliminate the need to bring single-use plastic water bottles to festivals and shows.

Another example is the Car Generator, invented by our client Jonathan Schloo. This weatherproof inverter can be hooked up to electric vehicles to provide clean backup power when you’re out camping or at your off-grid cottage.

These are just a few of the sustainability-focused products we’ve helped develop!

If you have a sustainable invention idea that you need help bringing to life or have any other questions about the services we offer, feel free to contact us anytime. We would love to provide feedback on your idea and set you up on a call with our product strategist!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!