Meeting 3 Reflections

An atypical meeting today; we discussed what this site should look like, chatted about weak AI and mirrored sculptures, and decided to explore the three ideas from the library below and spend next week’s meeting polishing one of them:

  • An oven that changes color when it’s on.
  • Weather Box – a tactile representation of outside weather, represented by a piece of granite that is heated or cooled to outside temperature, and films with water to represent precipitation
  • Cartop garden – a thin tray on the automobile’s roof (or attached in the sunroof) that can grow moss, etc. that helps keep the auto interior cool in parking lots and offsets CO2 slightly

Egg Sprouts

Imagine a kitchen full of small plantings: little flowers and mini herb sprigs are growing in the 12 bottom sections of a egg carton which have been separated and spread around the kitchen.

For home cooks who care where their food comes from, organic egg farmers can add an extra surprise – egg cartons with seeds waiting to be planted in the paper matrix.

"Plant Me" icon printed at the bottom of each egg's cup
 Icon printed on the bottom of each egg’s cup

Mary — an eco-conscious consumer — is buying some eggs to make a crème brûlée tonight, when she discovers the Egg Sprouts carton. Embedded in the carton’s paper are herb and flower seeds, and it can be easily separated into miniature planter boxes.  Thinking how her kitchen could be cheered up by a dozen small plants, Mary figures she’ll give these eggs a try. She’s always wanted more green in her home, and this seems like a easy and fun gardening project, so she picks up a carton to take home and plant.

Herb and Flower icons on the underside of each carton
Herb and Flower icons on the underside of each carton

The dual feature egg planter carton is an easy, ecofriendly way to introduce plants into the home while reusing egg cartons and shells. Growing the plants is a fun process — the user gets to tear up the carton, crush egg shells, and scoop dirt into the egg holder. While the plants can be used as herbs to spice future dinners, their presence also increases the tranquility and invitation in the home. Finally, the Egg Garden is a no-waste buy at the grocery store — eggs, egg shells, and egg carton are completely used.

Prior Art

Icons from the noun project