From time to time, the Inventions in Everything team surveys product pitches on Kickstarter just to get a sense of the innovation zeitgeist. We're looking for the uniting themes inventors and designers have zeroed in on to solve what they've identified as common problems, which their potential consumers have also bought into by pledging enough for their project to launch.
We've found three such innovations for this edition, with the common uniting theme of solving problems encountered by the environmentally conscious while drinking beverages on the go. Let's start by introducing HUNU, a collapsible coffee cup that fits in your pocket:
Hunu was originally kickstarted a year ago by Vince Dickson and Megan Williams with a goal of £2,500 to launch, which ultimately collected over 85 times than in pledges from 6,730 backers. This year, they successfully kickstarted the HUNU+, which includes 16 or 20 ounce versions of their collapsible coffee cup.
That's all well and good, but what if your jam involves cold drinks. The kind that are best consumed on the go through a plastic straw. Only you don't want to deal with a plastic straw.
That's the market the inventors and team behind FinalStraw, the world's first collapsible, reusable straw sought to tap through their 2018 Kickstarter campaign.
Originally seeking $12,500 to launch the FinalStraw, the KickStarter campaign ultimately collected nearly $1.9 million from some 38,443 backers.
The final innovation we're featuring in this edition is still being kickstarted as of our original publication date, but has already surpassed its $10,000 goal, so it will launch! Meet JoGo, the coffee brewing straw!
Nick Yehle and Joey Jones' design is based on the bombilla filtered straws they encountered on a trip to South America for drinking maté, which they've refined to work with coffee and other beverages.