Affordable Paperboard Desk Promotes Physical, Financal Health

 
According to a report this week on Geek.com (a subsidiary of Ziff Davis Publications, New York, N.Y., USA), our sedentary lifestyles are killing us. Higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and death have been linked to sitting—humans just weren’t meant to sit around for 8 hours at a time, working at a desk. Many are spending hundreds of dollars on devices that remind us to stand up. Others are spending thousands on standing and treadmill desks. But one company is offering a solution to offset those health risks for just $25.

It’s called the Oristand. Product designer Steven Suchy said the request came from Hootsuite founder Ryan Holmes, who wanted a standing desk that was affordable.



"We’ve done some research in standup desks and their health benefits, and while we certainly aren’t health experts, we found out that modulating your day between standing and sitting seems to be a real benefit," Suchy told Fast Company. "So we wanted to come up with a design that would allow that transition to be as easy as possible."

For $25, the Oristand offers a more elegant solution to stacking books and boxes to create a makeshift standing desk. It’s less cumbersome to put away, folding flat for transport or to stow away between desks.

Oristand is made of uncoated industrial-grade paperboard, which is what makes it so affordable. But because it’s made of paperboard, the stand will also break down over time. The site recommends users not leave heavy objects on the stand over night and to beware of liquids when spilled (it is a paper product after all).

The 2-lb. stand is built to accommodate a laptop and keyboard sitting on top of it. The keyboard area (10 by 21-in.) is wide enough to accommodate a compact keyboard and mouse. However, Oristand is not adjustable, nor does it come in different sizes. It’s intended as a one-size-fits-most device—designed to ergonomically suite people of a certain height (from 5 to 6-ft.), and is intended to sit atop a table of 29-in.

The Oristand is available for sale online now.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/