Mar 29, 2017
IDSA Student Member Ezra Depree is part of a Metropolitan State University of Denver industrial design duo that’s trying to make an environmental impact with sustainable design. Aqua Box by Depree and Wendy Hughes won first place in a recent competition judged by water conservatin experts. It will be on display tthis June at the Watershed Summit 2017 at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
Aqua Box could be taken apart for easy winter storage or be used as storage for garden tools or other items when it’s not being used to capture rain. It’s designed to look like wicker furniture and would come in several colors. The estimated cost is $50.
“We wanted something that was not only aesthetic and functional but was still very cost effective,” say Depree. The team won $150 for the design. There is an option for a patent and the potential to have their design manufactured and sold.
“We worked with our industrial design department here at MSU Denver to design a better rain barrel,” says Tom Cech, director of One World, One Water at MSU Denver. “Current rain barrels are not very functional. They warp, they leak, they don’t eliminate mosquito breeding and so forth and they’re pretty ugly looking.”