The concept focuses on material selection and assembly/ disassembly methods to lessen environmental impacts. The umbrella design builds on the existing widely used and socially excepted folding umbrella design. This utilises established semantics regarding the operation of the umbrella and increases acceptance in a largely conservative market.

The design has a more ergonomic handle to make the umbrella easier and more comfortable to hold. The design has a waterproof case that is attached to the handle and can be pulled over the wet umbrella to contain the water. This means the umbrella can be safely placed in handbags/ backpacks without fear of other items becoming wet. This helps to prevent umbrellas being left behind, minimising the need for replacement and saving resources.

The design makes the umbrella safer to use by placing blunt-ended snap fits over the sharp, pointed ends of conventional umbrella arms. Half of the snap fits are designed to open with a strong gust of wind to release the fabric and prevent the umbrella blowing inside-out and breaking. The fabric can then easily be re-attached to the intact frame. The frame screws into the handle facilitating easy disassembly for repair or recycling.

Where possible, the design uses renewable, recycled or recyclable materials to promote closed loop material flows and reduce the amount of non-renewable resources consumed. Components are made of single materials where possible to facilitate easy recycling. The design minimises the number of different materials: high density polyethylene (HDPE) and recycled aluminium alloy. Materials are not coated to prevent recyclate contamination and to minimise the use of toxic substances. All materials are labelled using standard identification symbols to identify their type and suitability for recycling. All labels and the grip pattern on the handle are built into the moulding tool rather than being attached to the surface using adhesives to facilitate easy recycling.

All plastic components are made of HDPE including the handle, top screw fitting, snap fittings, umbrella canopy and case. HDPE was chosen because it can be made as a biopolymer derived from renewable resources such as the fermentation of sugar cane. This means that at the end of its useful life, the HDPE can become food for either the biological or technical system. In addition, HDPE is relatively tough, non-toxic, inert, easily moulded and recyclable. A waterproof HDPE fabric is used for the case and canopy of the umbrella instead of the traditional nylon fabric. Nylon is only water resistant and requires a coating to make it waterproof which HDPE does not. The compromise is that the HDPE fabric weighs more and is slightly bulkier than nylon fabric.

The umbrella frame is made of recycled aluminium to minimise weight and therefore transportation energy, and also to reduce the impacts of mining raw materials and the energy used in converting bauxite to aluminium. Steel is conventionally used for umbrella frames due to its strength and cheap cost, but it requires a protective coating that typically uses cadmium which is highly toxic. The aluminium must be alloyed to increase its strength. This means it is no longer a mono-material which makes recycling a little more difficult.

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