Eco lunch is a sustainable solution to the issue of
employees skipping lunch due to tight time frames. Studies have found that a
large proportion of employees have a tendency to skip Lunch breaks on a regular
basis as they do not have time to leave the office to buy lunch. Eco lunch is compact unit which offers a
range of different herbs, salad greens and dressings for employees to consume
for lunch. Eco lunch addresses the worrying environmental issues of take away
food packing waste. The product service system which Eco lunch offers is
sustainable and encouraging of ethical social behaviours.
The product service system begins with the Eco lunch
Company who germinate a variety of lettuce greens in the innovative Eco lunch
pods. As shown in poster 4, seeds are sown directly into the pods into a
mixture of perlite and vermiculite. The pods are lined with a layer of
geotechnical fabric then a piece of agricultural grade Rockwool is inserted
into the bottom and the perlite mix is then added on top to fill the pods to
the top. Covering the mixture is another sheet of geotechnical fabric which has
a number of small holes for the seeds to be sown into. The pods remain upright
throughout the period of germination as to let the roots take hold. After the
seeds are sown each pod is watered a substantial amount to allow the Rockwool
to fully absorb the water which acts as a constant water supply for the greens.
When the pods are one week from maturity they are
delivered to the workplace and in replacement of used pods. The pods are placed
in a sunny spot in the office where they will continue to grow until the pods
in the vertical garden unit are ready to be replaced. The pods are turned on
their side and slotted into the unit where the greens await consumption.
The Eco lunch system provides a range of organic salad
dressings which perfectly accompany the salad greens. This system overcomes the
barriers surrounding the time taken for lunch breaks as it eliminates the need
to leave the office to grab a bite to eat which significantly reduces the time.
Supplying employees with a free healthy lunch is a good way to improve work
performance. Eco lunch assists in reducing the waste caused by take away food
packaging. A study taken by Newstatesman revealed that only 50% of workers
bring a packed lunch, meaning the remaining 50% either buy lunch or skip lunch
all together. Out of the 50% who do not
pack lunch it was found that 48% leave the office to buy lunch. With almost one
quarter of all workers purchasing lunch there is a significant amount of
packaging waste being generated each day and Eco lunch is a sustainable
alternative which can reduce this waste.
I really like your design. I think it would brighten up any boring work kitchen. I think also having somethign on the counter would make workies choose healthier options for their lunch.
ReplyDeleteI think the design is sleak and modern and would integrate well into any kitchen environment.
I think maybe it would be nice if there was a tomarto plant on there or something.. so the user has something interesting to eat for lunch on their salad.
Over all welldone :)
Eco Lunch design provides fresh produce for workers at lunch time, which I think is a good idea. I like the fact that you get to pick the lettuce or herbs you want to eat at lunch time rather than taking it from home and storing it in the fridge. Your design addresses the idea of healthy eating habits which is essential in the workplace industry. The only thing I could recommend to improve your idea is maybe enabling the company that is using this system to order more than just lettuces and herbs, but other fresh produce. Or maybe you could explore the form of the product or the way the product is placed on the kitchen bench.
ReplyDeleteYour design's really interesting, cause I never thought of actually growing veggies for employees in order for them to eat healthier food. My only issue is that, since the harvest time of these plants would be once every 1-2 months, does that mean the employees have to wait that long before they can eat their salad?
ReplyDeleteHi Jono! I love that this will brighten up any office kitchen bench, although I think it could transition nicely to be used in a home scenario. I won't go into plant growth and harvest times as that's not an area I'm familiar with, but I'd suggest making your product more educational. Perhaps there's a website with educational information about the importance of eating a healthy lunch/healthy work place environments, or just a tagline on the design (depends on how much propaganda you want to attach to your product). Otherwise, a system identifying the herbs (labels) would also help educate the office staff, & help them use this product and service. Great work =)
ReplyDelete