Global Innovation Awards
We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our very own Eve Berndt at the Global Innovation Awards! Eve, along with two other students, designed a system of products called ReFresh for their Senior Thesis project at MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design), aspiring to introduce a more sustainable, eco-friendly approach to grocery shopping. Working together to identify the need within the industry and create the Refresh system, they each picked a sustainable product to focus on within the Refresh project. Eve focused on a reusable and returnable grocery carrier and container system. Bern
While businesses and consumers are pushing more and more for eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic bags and packaging in grocery stores, ReFresh offers a shopping solution that is more durable, easier to recycle, and easier to organize.
Designed to be a “pack as you go” system with efficient modular organization, the ReFresh containers and carriers can allow shoppers to collect custom amounts of dry goods and unpackaged produce in a formulated way. ReFresh components can be easily sanitized after each use, to ensure safe and healthy shopping experiences. The lifespan of the components are long and fulfilling, however, when the products do reach the end of their lifespan, the plastic can be completely broken down and turned into usable PET plastic once more. The durability and longevity of ReFresh products is of more value than using recyclable, one-use paper bags, further enhancing a low-waste future in the grocery industry.
After months of dedicated work and design, the team’s innovative solution took home third place! We applaud Eve’s ambition and drive both on her personal projects, and in the office. In the handful of months she has been a part of our team, she has shown great potential, work ethic, and talent, and we can’t wait to see all of the amazing projects she will interact with at Tekna!
If you’d like to learn more about ReFresh and Eve’s design process, visit
https://eveberndt.myportfolio.com/thesis.
