It’s made of cardboard.
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Sitting kills. One oft-cited study found that the effects of being sedentary throughout the day—sitting at your desk, in your car, in front of your computer, in front of your TV—are not offset by regular exercise. Prolonged inactivity for eight to 12 hours a day is associated with cardiovascular disease, and ups your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 90 percent.
But it’s a new year and a new you—and time start moving around more. One quick solution is the standing desk, which can cost hundreds of dollars. But the new Oristand desk costs just $25. It’s also made of cardboard.
Product designer Steve Suchy made the Oristand at the request of Ryan Holmes, founder of the popular social media management tool Hootsuite. Holmes was frustrated at the lack of affordable standing desk options on the market.
“We thought that making an affordable, easy-to-use product would allow people to try a standing desk for the first time,” Suchy told Fast Company.
Weighing in at about two pounds, the Oristand is collapsible, as well as sturdy enough to hold a laptop and a big stack of books. Spilled coffee or water is not ideal for the industrial-strength cardboard, but its makers say the desk is durable and should last a while. When it’s time for the Oristand to go, good news—it’s 100 percent recyclable.
But as James Levine, inventor of the treadmill desk and codirector of Obesity Solutions at the Mayo Clinic, told NPR, a desk alone is not going to solve America’s inactivity problem. “Like anything that's important in our lives, the solution is not tips and tricks,” Levine said. “The solution is a proper, sustained assault on the problem.” Buy that standing desk—and then go for a nice long walk.
(Via Fast Company. Cover image via Facebook.)
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