Today Groopti expanded their fun cardboard furniture series with their brand new Urban Tree coat hanger. The design was conceived by Gerardo Belmonte and then selected for production using Groopti’s method of crowdsourcing opinions from design enthusiasts. The Urban Tree is composed of 6 legs and 5 rings that are machine cut from 90% recycled corrugated cardboard. Each piece is cut from layers of corrugated board to ensure that the coat stand is extremely sturdy, and the legs and rings can be easily assembled without screws, nails, or adhesives.
Groopti adds color to the Urban Tree with eco-friendly UV printing. This type of priting is more energy efficient that other forms of printing, is VOC free, and can produce a range of dramatic, saturated colors. Colors are customized at the time of purchase since Groopti only makes product after an order, ensuring no waste from stocking.
Groopti works with each designer to develop their work for production. Although very close to Belmonte’s original concept submission, you can see that the final product has been tweaked slightly to optimize for strength and production. A Valencia based designer, Belmonte could be considered a veteran with the barely 9-month old start up. One of his other eco-product submissions to Groopti includes a chair made with recycled bicycle tires and pine wood.
+ Groopti
+ Gerardo Belmonte
after living in the sub tropical climate of New Orleans Louisana i can tell you that corrugated cardboard is like an ant farm for cockroaches and a breeder for black mold. I guess you could fill all the cracks and holes with boric acid and silica or saturate it in resin but that almost defeats the green nature of the object.