Meet Ginko, the umbrella that will change the world.

“Ginkgo is an innovative compact umbrella, re-designed from scratch and made entirely in just one recyclable material. It is stiff and flexible, able to absorb random impacts and windforce without breaking or bending, but also lightweight, colorful and warm to the touch. And 100% recyclable.”

Around the world more than 1 billion umbrellas are thrown out or lost every year, and you know why, some of them are so damn useless you wonder if it was created in a temperature controlled, completely sealed room and never tested in the real world. The guys at Ginko have done the math and the materials from all those umbrellas would be enough (by weight) to build 25 Eiffel Towers each year.

They have launched a crowd source campaign to get these gorgeous, sustainable, strong beauties in the hands of people like you and I all over the world, on indigogo.com (similar to kickstarter). Jump on a have a look! Leave a comment below if you are in Australia and interested in ordering as a group.

One of their stretch goals (if they get to $200,000) is to close the loop on their production, a cradle-to-cradle chain which would mean that all materials used in production can either be used in continuous cycle as the same product without losing their integrity or quality (and can be used over and over again instead of being “downcycled” into lesser products, ultimately becoming waste) or can be disposed of in any natural environment and decompose into the soil, providing food for small life forms without affecting the natural environment.