The idea appeared yesterday when we were walking our dog. So many interesting ideas appear when you are walking. Walking improves creativty, according to a Stanford study. Stuck at home, staring at the walls, ideas seem hard to hatch. We have been thinking about the puffins but every idea seemed . . . boring . . . until yesterday!
There is so much rubbish where we live, and picking it up always seems like a great thing but such hard work. If you have ever watched the people who would around in the cities with a rubbish picker litter stick you understand the problem.
But if you add some ideas inspired by the puffin beak bards and their glowing beak, wow, this is the litter picker of the future.
Their beaks have a flexible hinge so the puffin can control the degree of the opening of the mouth. There are spines, denticles, inside the upper jaw. The puffin holds the fish against the spines with its tongue so they can continue to hunt for more fish.
Just like the puffin can hold at least 10 fish in its beak, this litter picker can hold at least 10 pieces of rubbish. The rubbish can be of various sizes and most importantly when you relase the rubbish into the bin the rubbish sorts itself. The litter picker flashes in different colours when it is about to relase paper, another glowing colour of plastic . . .
Combining ideas is a useful creativity tool!
Featured photo: Puffin with beak open. Thanks to Jermey Malley-Smith. You can see his stunning photos here. https://jeremymalleysmithphotography.co.uk/
Biomimicry for Young Children 