Product Designers

S3 geography pupils were set the challenge to design a new product for Gumdrop Ltd.

As part of the S3 geography course, pupils study the topic ‘Resources’ which highlights many current and contextual issues.

In class, pupils watched the Drowning in Plastic documentary to highlight the impact plastic is having on our environment. Following this they thought about possible solutions and pupils were introduced to an initiative that recycles used chewing gum and mixes it with recycled plastic to create new products called Gumdrop Ltd.

Pupils were impressed with the range of products the company has created so far which includes americano cups, frisbees and lunch boxes.

Pupils came up with a range of impressive designs including gumshields, cutlery, clocks and bicycles.

The department picked a winner from each teaching set and the three finalists were sent to Anna, the founder of Gumdrop Ltd, to decide a winner. Anna took time to judge the entries and provided the following feedback for the pupils along with personalised notes and prizes:

1st place: Bubble Juice by Umar

“Great name and really well presented. The stats provided are staggering and clearly outline a clear gap in the market for an alternative sustainable solution. The scope for further development of the product line is vast.”

2nd place: Gummy Hanger by Zoe

“Love the idea of Gummy Hangers! This would be an easy product to make from Gum-tec and could easily adopt the closed loop cycle once a hanger had come to the end of its life.”

3rd place: Gum Chair by Gregor, Ethan and Andrew

“Fantastic idea, for providing those less fortunate with an everyday product that will help productivity and learning in schools as well as go towards helping reduce the amount of virgin material used in the manufacture of this type of product.”