A young student of the Faculty of Economics and Administration proposes a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to single-use plastic cups. Vojtěch Toman succeeded in collecting over 180 thousand Czech crowns, by almost 40 thousand exceeding the target sum at the crowdfunding platform Hithit. His project caught the attention of the South Moravian Innovation Centre, which supports start-up entrepreneurs.
OneCup. is made of food-grade stainless steel. “It’s much more resistant than glass; it’s shockproof. Moreover, the material is one hundred percent recyclable,” says Vojta. He was not really interested in environmental issues before; however, the enormous quantities of single-use plastics around started to worry him. It is his OneCup. that may contribute to their reduction.
The main goal of the project is to provide a sustainable and more eco-friendly option that can replace millions of disposable plastic cups. The student promotes information about the problems arising from the use of plastics on social media. “It’s not enough for me to reject certain products; I wish to contribute to a better condition of the planet through my own creative action and by raising awareness,” he explains.
The cups are unique in the method of their decoration. Vojta decided he did not want to use paint, which often contains harmful substances. Laser seemed too energy-consuming. Vojta got inspired by his grandfather and applied the knowledge he had learnt in chemistry. Finally, he chose electrolysis. “Together with a friend, I wrote a coursework about electrolysis when I was at secondary school. My grandfather makes knives and I helped him to ‘tattoo’ ornaments in a similar way,” he describes. Thus, he just needs electric current, table salt and water.
The cups will be launched onto the market during the summer. In the process of sale, Vojta will utilise practical skills he obtained during his studies. His field of study at the FEA MU is Finance. In the meantime, Vojta is offering his cups to Brno cafés and bars. He believes that OneCup. could be used at festivals and replace the returnable plastic cups that have appeared at such events in recent years. “Plastic is not popular any more. Let’s say our solution is sexier,” concludes the student.
Congratulations to Vojtěch Toman! We wish him lots of success!
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