In today's society the umbrella is almost regarded as a disposable product; users will rarely use the same umbrella for an extended period of time, before it quickly becomes obsolescent and heads to landfill.

This being the case, one should ask why most umbrellas are not designed to fulfil this use? The typical umbrella consists of over 100 various parts, all of which need to be manufactured individually via different means. The components (which are made from an array of materials) are then transported and permanently assembled.

This process not only consumes a large amount of energy but results in a product which is unaccommodating for repair, reuse or recycling.

The proposed design intends to address all of these issues, creating a design which:

• Minimises the use of material

• Minimises energy consumption during manufacturing and transportation

• Can be easily repaired or recycled

This is achieved via the following innovation:

• The entire umbrella is manufactured from polypropylene, so at the end of it's life no disassembly is required. The entire umbrella can simply be thrown into the recycling bin.
• The majority of the product is manufactured from thin sheet material, which has been cleverly manipulated to create structure. This drastically reduces the amount of material used, can all be stamped by the same manufacturer and can be flat packed to facilitate transportation.
• All fixtures are incorporated into the components and are easily assembled/disassembled. This minimises the material and manufacturing of separate fixtures and also allows the user to easily replace individual components if they are damaged.
• The design is durable and is created with a fun aesthetic, this encourages users to take ownership of their umbrella and hopefully hold onto them for a little longer

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