Hot New Kickstarter Project in Town

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There’s a hot new Kickstarter project in town – so hot, in fact, it was named a Kickstarter Staff Pick within hours of launching. It’s an idea whose time has come: sturdy, inexpensive furniture made from 50% post-consumer recycled cardboard – designed for kids.

The project is the brain child of Aptos native Jordan Kepler, who recently graduated Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Kepler, along with fellow Cal Poly alumni Justin Farr and Jake Disraeli, came up with the idea as part of their senior project. They noticed that university students often toss out their furniture when they move after the school year ends. In fact, 8.5 million tons of furniture and furnishings are thrown away every year in the United States. That’s a lot of trash.

It’s no secret that a lot of today’s furniture is cheap stuff, made from particle board and not designed to last for many years. Kepler and his friends realized that children’s furniture in particular has a short life span, as kids outgrow their furniture within a few years. From this idea, The Cardboard Guys was born. While the furniture is designed to be recycled, it is also designed to be sturdy and strong: a chair they’ve designed is rated to hold 500 pounds of weight.

Within 3 days of launching on Kickstarter.com, the project had already reached about 50% of its goal of $25,000, which must be raised by March 27th. Once the project reaches its goal, The Cardboard Guys will use the money to buy a cardboard die cutting machine and start cranking out their first product, a cardboard desk and matching chair. Each desk+chair set comes with art supplies in the packaging, and kids are encouraged to decorate their furniture to suit their style and taste. It is expected that the desk+chair set will retail for around $100.

Assuming that the $25K Kickstarter goal is met, Kepler and The Cardboard Guys will be donating pieces to the Rio del Mar Elementary School auction and also the Mar Vista Elementary School auction.

Check out the cool teaser video (below) they put together – and then head over to the Kickstarter campaign and make a donation. There’s a much longer and more detailed video there you can check out too.

Let’s help Jordan and his friends make a dent in the Universe.
See also:

• The Cardboard Guys Web Page
• The Cardboard Guys Facebook Page
• Kickstarter Project Page
• Story in the San Luis Obispo Times