Unbelievable as it sounds, a team of designers has created a strong, durable bike helmet that is made entirely from recycled paper! Royal College of Art students Tom Gottelier, Bobby Petersen and Ed Thomas designed the paper pulp helmet, which is strong enough to absorb the impact of a crash.
This design addresses a very common problem all over the world that arises with bike sharing. Most riders using shared bikes do not wear helmets, as they would have to carry it around all day or use a possibly unhygienic shared helmet. As more cities across the globe become environmentally conscious and introduce bike share programs, the number of riders on the streets without helmets potentially increases, creating a need for something like this amazing paper helmet.
“The idea to use paper pulp came about through standing around on tube platforms, sitting in buses and trains watching Metro and Evening Standard newspapers blow around,” explains Thomas Gottelier, who co-created the helmet. “We had previously seen what kind of structural integrity could be gained from molding paper pulp and it seemed like a logical step to use this vast resource that currently circulates our public transport network.”
Reusing paper is one thing, but making it strong enough to absorb crash impacts is pretty impressive, especially when these biodegradable helmets are made for under $ 1.5 without any glue or artificial additives!