Here’s a cardboard standing desk you can take with you wherever you go

Standing desks, touted for boosting productivity and promoting a healthier lifestyle, have become increasingly popular in recent years. Though standing for eight hours a day may come with its own drawbacks, foregoing the traditional desk and chair combo at least some of the time can speed up metabolism – and perhaps even increase your lifespan. If you’re not quite committed to the idea of adding a new standing desk to your office, a New Zealand-based startup may have a novel solution.

Refold, a three-man startup from Wellington, has created a cardboard standing desk that is portable, eco-friendly, and can be converted to a sitting desk in seconds. You can fold it up flat and stash it behind your couch or under the bed when not in use. If you decide that it’s just not your style, simply drop it in the recycling bin.

Oliver Ward, one of Refold’s co-founders, tells Tech in Asia that their original standing desk prototype was born out of necessity. “While working on another project about 18 months ago, we encountered a problem where we didn’t have enough desks, so we designed a portable cardboard one,” he says. “The interest in the desk was immense and the multitude of uses beyond what we had originally needed it for became apparent.”

The trio behind Refold have taken to Kickstarter to bring their cardboard standing desk to the masses. With 33 days remaining in Refold’s crowdfunding campaign, backers have pledged NZ$19,000 (US$15,000) of the NZ$25,000 (US$20,000) goal. Ward is confident that the project will be funded and hopeful that it may even reach its NZ$40,000 (US$31,000) stretch goal:

That would put us in a position to consider setting up our own production machinery, which will create an abundance of benefits. First, it will open the door to allow true customization as well as significantly reduce our production costs, ensuring we can maintain affordable pricing. Second, our turnaround times will also significantly improve. Additionally, it will allow us to easily adapt the design as well as prototype and develop new products, which we’re really excited about.

The desk, which weighs only 6.5kg, can be fully assembled in under two minutes. It’s offered in three different sizes in accordance with a user’s height.

A pledge of NZ$160 (US$125) lands the backer Refold’s basic standing desk with shipping in New Zealand – perhaps a bit pricey for a desk that will definitely accumulate coffee mug rings. Putting up NZ$220 (US$170) gets you a standing desk and a pair of sitting desk legs. Pledge levels also exist with shipping to Australia, though the team has no plans to offer international shipping at this phase.

Doing some good

Similarly to Tom’s – the company that gives a new pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased – Refold offers a pledge level that provides one desk to the backer and one to a school that needs it, in collaboration with UNICEF New Zealand. Even if a backer can’t afford to donate a whole desk, pledge levels ranging between NZ$20 (US$16) and NZ$60 (US$47) allow them to donate individual parts.