From designers Cho Youg-jo & Jeoung Jun-tae comes the Econut, an iPad case made entirely of materials sourced from the Coconut tree.

The case appears to be little more than coconut cardboard folded into a cheap-looking box case, but there are two nifty things about this design. It includes a keyboard in one of the two fold-out cover flaps, whichwould connect wirelessly to the iPad. The photos only have an arrow from the keyboard pointing to a picture of a man typing on the screen of the iPad while it sits in a different case entirely. But if it does, and the way the other flap folds in behind to prop up the iPad like a screen, this tropical-smelling case box essentially turns the iPad into a touch-screen notebook.

That said, it looks like something you could do with a pizza box or two and a little motivation. Throw in some duct tape, and now you’re talkin.

On the other hand, if the keyboard doesn’t work or you simply get bored of it, it’s completely biodegradable. According to the video, simply throw it on the green at your local golf course and it will almost instantaneously disintegrate back to the dirt from whence it came.

The designers seem to rock this point harder than any other.

“The coconut tree perhaps is the most giving tree in all of nature…every part of the tree is used in some industry or another,” says the concept writeup on Yanko. “So it makes complete logical sense for young designers with an eco initiative to come up with an iPad cover made from materials sourced from the coconut tree! This is the story of Econut, a cover that blends back into nature after serving its purpose to the iPad.”

What do you think? Thumbs up for Econut?

[Yanko Design]

The post Econut biodegradable iPad case concept appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

With what seems to be everyone and their dog stepping up to the plate in the world of conservation, green is good is the consensus even among companies who still manufacture their “green” goods thousands of miles away in countries like China. To them, being green is just a marketing thing, perhaps a phase for the times, but to companies like Jivo, they take it home.

“We see The Leaf as a turning point in the future of Irish manufacturing and design. For years we have seen a huge trend in manufacturing moving from Europe to China but we have proven with this project that we can competitively manufacture in Ireland. We have confirmed orders for over seven million units” said John McHugh, a director at Jivo in a press statement.

Jivo is an Ireland based company who has developed the Jivo Leaf, a simple biodegradable case that will protect your Apple iPhone from getting dinged and scratched.

When your iPhone is dated and you recycle that, throw your Jivo Leaf in the garbage and it will be gone in five years. Microbial bacteria typical of landfills will break it down in just five years, and it won’t start to break down until you throw it away, so put your fears aside of your iPhone case disintegrating in your pocket. Typical iPhone cases can take fifty years or more to degrade.

The Leaf’s enhanced biodegradable properties are attributed to a chemical called Eco-Pure, this is a 100% organic material blended into the plastic during the time of manufacture.

Jivo also uses recycled packaging to ship and sell the Jivo Leaf, they also manufacture it in Ireland which sets them apart, now that’s staying close to home. Jivo Leaf will sell for €19.99 or close to $28 USD from the Jivo website next week.

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