Pocket Hero

Leader

Mona Lüders

To which topic does your idea refer?

Recycling and Waste Mgt.

Describe your idea! How does it work to reduce / replace plastic? How will you involve others?

Pocket Hero is a convenient and beautiful portable ashtray made out of locally recycled thermoplastic, designed to prevent littering in cities and in nature by allowing cigarette butts to be safely stored for disposal when you’re on the go.

Cigarette butts are the most common type of plastic litter, with 4,5 trillion disposed of improperly per year. They are the most frequent item of litter picked up on beaches and water edges worldwide. Have you ever looked in your favorite local park and counted the cigarette butts around one bench? You will most likely find dozens laying around. Maybe you have also seen them on a beach during your summer vacation and had to explain to your child not to eat them. Sadly, many of us have become desensitized to the fact that cigarette butts litter almost every corner.

We believe that it is not too late to turn over a new leaf. Pocket Hero is not only a convenient way for smokers to dispose of their cigarette butts safely and responsibly, it can also help start conversations about this problem and make an impact to change littering culture.

When we started thinking of the first prototype and how we will make our product, we thought of the global impact archived by local actions as the center focus. With that in mind, it became clear that we wanted Pocket Hero to be made out of locally recycled thermoplastic. The plastic should have a traceable supply chain throughout the recycling process and to be fully recyclable again after its end of the lifetime.

Since we are using exclusively locally recycled plastic to make our products, we will prevent the use of resources and contribute to local circular economies, as well as promote them.
The positive effect of more everyday products made of recycled plastics, that communicate how and they were recycled, will mean that people will be encouraged to look out for such products when they experience good design and quality. This will have a positive causal effect.

Users requirements make it not possible for companies to just create and design an exceptional product that solves a problem or make some tasks easier to achieve, but they demand to know how it is produced and delivered, which materials are involved, and what they should do with the product at the end of the life cycle. Portable ashtrays that can be found nowadays are failing to deliver, for both companies and society. We strongly believe our innovation empowers these demands, supporting the design and creation process.