Cooper designs-out waste for a household commodity
Reimagining delivery of liquid household products from a community perspective: synchronized stocking of product concentrates and residence-based vending, for a more sustainable and convenient retail future.
Delivering commodity products is costly and inconvenient for both sellers and consumers and wasteful to the environment. The explosive growth of e-commerce freight transport, demand for fast delivery, and associated costs is causing congestion and pollution (40% of road usage and 40% of urban CO2 emissions, respectively), a ton of unnecessary packaging waste, and thinning retailer profit margins, especially for low-cost everyday items.
While most efforts to address urban last mile logistics issues have been focused on innovative vehicles, transport routing optimization, or parcel lockers, this project explores the potential for large residential buildings to pool and synchronize their commodity goods delivery. It also proposes new product formats that are specifically suited for shipment (namely liquid concentrates), reducing the financial and ecological costs of their delivery and acquisition. The project maintains a human-centered approach, aiming to enhance convenience and reduce frustrating packaging waste for urban residents.
We’re harming our environment (and wallets) by shipping products which are mostly water to homes which already have water. Laundry detergent, one of the bulkier and costlier liquid household products, is often more than 2/3 water.
Meet Cooper, the smart direct-to-wash laundry product dispenser designed for effortless washing & environmental sustainability.
Cooper brings benefits for all stakeholders…
Consumers/building residents no longer need to spend effort remembering to buy and lugging detergent - it is convenient access without convenience pricing and bulk unit prices without having to store the bulkiness. Laundry service operators who manage shared laundry rooms in multifamily buildings are able to increase their profit per machine significantly and only have to restock concentrate containers 1-2X/yr. Brand experience significant savings from consolidating shipping, reducing packaging and packaging failure. ~65% of a brand’s costs for liquid commodity items are packaging, fill, transportation and storage which is why such items are dubbed CRaP (Can’t-Realize-a-Profit).
