My umbrella was designed with the aim of reducing the amount of different types of materials used to produce it, remove the hazardous spokes and make it easier for disassembling at end of life to separate the types of materials used for easier re-use and/or recycling.

I chose to create an inflatable umbrella. This design removes the metal frame, and replaces it with air filled arms, with webbing between each arm. This is the canopy component of the umbrella. It is made of PVC, which i know is difficult but possible to recycle, and should be labelled with the "3" recycle logo to alert users, or manufacturers when they're disassembling it at the end of it's user life-according to the regulations in Europe where manufacturers must take back their products.

I found suitable materials which are degradable, much bettter than PVC to the natural environment. These include products such as Bio-plas, Mater-Bi and Zein (a protein found in corn starch). These can mostly be applied the
same way as typical petroleum based plastics & when in a suitable environment where heat and moisture is present such as landfill or a home compost, they are consumed by microrganisms(Bio-plas) or degrade (Mater-Bi
and Zein products).

The middle stucture of the umbrella is a telescopic pole/handle, and at the top, where it's connected to the canopy is a small hand-pump(bike-pump). This is housed in an injection moulded component manufactured out of
bio-plastic.

At the end of this umbrella's life the pump can be removed and reused by the manufacturers whilst the rest of the umbrella can be discarded and degrade and/or recycled.
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