Zukgaan - Your foldaway straw

What it does

Zukgaan is a reusable straw that replaces disposable plastic straws. It can be assembled into a straw easily by magnets and can be disassembled into a flat sheet for quick cleaning. The diameter of the straw can be adjusted with the different folding methods.

Your inspiration

Plastic products are polluting our ocean, afflicting land and killing wildlife. Policies and campaigns that advocates less production and reducing the use of plastic products are increasing worldwide. The development of reusable straws is impeded by hygienic problem because the typical shapes of straws make them difficult to clean after use. Our inspiration comes from the structure of Chinese traditional bamboo slip, which consists of many long, narrow strips closely connected in order and can be either rolled up or spread. Therefore, we design a new reusable straw with the transformability which can solve the key cleaning problem.

How it works

Zukggan is composed of several pieces of magnet strips connected by a PLA backlayer. The strip material is rigid while the joint is flexible, which helps users folding it easily into different shapes. The straw is sealed by magnetic force to enable drinking. Users can choose between two different diameters according to the drink types. After use, the straw is disassembeled into a flat sheet for cleaning. Zukggan is portable and biodegradable, preventing us from wasting the resources and polluting the environment.

Design process

The idea started from the posters in restaurants that advocated prohibition of disposable plastic straws. After information collection, we found that currently developed reusable straws were not widely accepted due to the hygienic problem. Therefore, we would like to solve this problem by a new design. The initial concept was the structure of Chinese traditional bamboo slip named ‘Zukgaan’, which has both a planar form for reading/writing and a tubular form for storage. It was applied to the design of straw including a planar form for cleaning and a tubular form for drinking. Various methods of sealing were considered carefully, in which magnetic sealing strip was finally selected. Poly(lactic acid) is a common biodegradable material that is suitable for the production of reusable straws. An initial prototype was made to test its function as a straw. The practicability was evaluated.

How it is different

Zukgaan is reusable and biodegradable, which make it much more eco-friendly than conventional disposable plastic straws. Zukgaan is also superior to developed reusable straws on the market because it is easier to carry, use and clean. These advantages will make this product widely used in the near future.

Future plans

We plan to improve the design details, manufacturing techniques and various costs for a complete prototype based on market research. Necessary tests will also be conducted to meet relevant standards.

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