Ecostep Youth

Design Contest Winners

The Design Contest of EcoStep Youth project is over, and it’s time to announce the winners! 

The winner of the Public Vote competition is “BrikBag” project-design of the Spanish team “Social Comunitari Art Center”, with 110 votes. 

The concept behind the “BrikBag” project is the reuse of a material that deeply affects our environment, and one of the most commonly used for the sale of beverages: the milk brick. The Spanish team, in fact, had the idea to use this material considering their own daily consumption (of milk, soups, juices, etc.) and waste production. Once the material has been selected, the team experienced and tested different ways to separate the brick components. Inspired by vintage-style handbags like those used by doctors or even Mary Poppins, the team finally decided to create a suitcase out of milk bricks. The result achieved is a versatile and urban prototype. A level description: 

  • It has interior lined with fabric of old black curtain, with compartments to store small objects;
  • The handles are old electrical installation cables;
  • The tacks decorating the bag are office clips;
  • The logo has been made with scraps of EVA (Ethylene-vinyl acetate) rubber and wire;
  • Coffee capsule filters have been used as bag holder for the background.

The winner of the European Contest, among the national winners, is the Irish team “Tire Chair Team” with the “TYRE BENCH” project. 

The Irish team focused the attention on bicycle tyres, as they are made of a complex material very difficult to recycle, causing serious environmental pollution for improper waste disposal. The item created out of bicycle tyres is a public bench, chosen by the team for a simple and practical reason: many members of the Irish team had personally experienced the lack of places to sit down while visiting parks and public spaces. The Tire Chair Team wanted to create a useful product that anyone of any age could use, with no limitations in spreading awareness around tyre waste. Description of the project: 

  • The bench is designed to comfortably sit in two people and is made of two main materials – plastic lumber for the frame and recycled bicycle tyres for the seat;
  • Plastic lumber is a strong and hard-wearing material, commonly used in outdoor furniture and is perfect for the design, and would further reinforce it as a sustainable and recycled product;
  • Rubber tyres are durable and sturdy, making it suitable for use in the design;
  • Its elastic properties make for a more comfortable seating experience as opposed to regular solid benches.

For more info about the Design Contest teams you can find here: