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Most people don’t tend to give much thought to Q-tips. Sure, the ubiquitous tool is versatile, but the lifecycle of each cotton swab typically is a short one. Isabel Aagaard, 29, is trying to change that. A graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Architecture, Design, and Conservation, Aagaard found herself becoming increasingly frustrated by the sheer amount of single-use products woven into our daily routines—specifically, cotton swabs.
“The inspiration came when we started researching the most harmful ocean pollutants,” Aagaard says. “Cotton swabs were surprisingly one of the most significant. In fact, 1.5 billion cotton swabs are produced daily only to be thrown out after one use.”