make 'fixing' sexy

Meet Jane, the product designer on a mission to change the way we think about waste.

Published On: 14/02/2022

The modern developed world is fixated on business models that rely on a linear, cradle to grave products. With even the slightest damage, our everyday products are often thrown away and replaced with something new. Disgusted with this idea, product designer, entrepreneur and founder of Sugru, Jane ni Dhulchaointigh, is on a mission to change our relationship with our stuff and get us excited about fixing.

“Jane dreamt of becoming a product designer. So, she went off to a big school in London to learn how. But designing lots of new stuff for an already disposable society just didn’t seem like the right thing to do...” as stated on the Sugru website

At university, Jane made a happy discovery while playing with materials:

“What started out as a happy accident at design school playing around with silicone polymers and sawdust, grew into a remarkable new, soft-touch formable material.”

Years of testing and experimenting later, sugru is better than ever as a simple, versatile and fun way to make the necessary adjustments to our everyday objects so that they last longer.

Sugru is a mouldable glue that looks and feels like play-dough, but is strong enough to bind to almost anything, is waterproof and a single bond can hold the weight of up to 2.4kg. The glue is easily sculpted with your hands and sets to a strong and flexible rubber-like consistency in just 24 hours.

Many of our everyday objects have a short period of usability, eventually break and end up headed for landfill. Stores are filled with a myriad of items that are cheap to produce, quick to break and therefore disposed of. As a collective society we need to refuse disposability as a way of life and make fixing sexy. Sugru is a great step in the right direction.

For more info on the wonderful world of Sugru, head over to their website: https://sugru.com/story

All information, quotes and images sourced from: https://sugru.com

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How can we make the myriad of objects already in circulation in the world work longer and better for us? We’re always looking for sexy ways to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. If you’ve got any ideas for product, material, design or process innovation, don’t be shy! Give us a holla over at workwithus@toitoitoiluv.com

Cheers to designing a better world