An innovative student has come up with a product called ‘Rest’ that uses backrests from office chairs to make backpacks.
Most businesses throw away their old office chairs when they wear out, as most recycling schemes cannot use them. It is estimated that over 800,000 office chairs are thrown away by UK businesses each year.
To combat this waste, a Product Design student at Birmingham City University, Thomas Howell-Jones, collected several old office chairs and decided that he would find a purpose for them. He realised that the chair backs were such that they could function as a container, and utilised them as the main component of a bag that could be worn as a backpack or bicycle panniers. The bags are strong, waterproof, and impact resistant.
Howell-Jones said:
“Realising that a backpack was possible from office chair waste was the turning point for the project. This allowed me to continue detailed investigation and development showing results seen today. Materialising the office chair backrest shell allowed Rest to be as functional as possible whilst also supplying an impact resistance and waterproof bag'.
Howell-Jones used backs from various chair models to create his bag range.
Modern office chairs such as the Start Executive Office Chair are built to last for many years, but eventually, all office chairs that are used every day will come to the end of their life at some point in the future. Inventors like Thomas Howell-Jones, however, demonstrate that office equipment that is thrown away can be resurrected by turning them into useful products.
