Can a power bank be art? This one is—and not only does it look good, it’s made from reclaimed junk and is even designed to be repaired.
What can you say about a power bank? For the average user, it either works or it doesn’t. Maybe some charge more quickly than others, or have larger capacities, or are made from lighter-weight materials, but for the most part, power is power.
Exception: The Gomi power bank, which just might be the most sustainable one yet.
The Gomi device is different from every other power bank I’ve ever tried in three significant ways: First, it’s made from recycled and salvaged materials. The casing is made from recycled plastic, and the batteries are rescued from London e-bikes that would otherwise be junked.
Second, they’re designed to be repaired. Every component can be fixed or replaced if it breaks, and the company offers free repairs for the first two years.
Finally, and perhaps most unexpectedly for such a practical product, they’re beautiful. The plastic housing for each pack is individually pressed from pellets of recycled plastic that have been melted together to create colorful swirls. No two are identical.
Gomi, based in Brighton, England, started out as the epitome of trash to treasure. Originally, the power bank covers were made out of actual junk. The founders went door-to-door to restaurants and other businesses in Brighton, and collected plastic waste that’s not usually accepted for recycling. They cleaned it themselves, hand-washing the plastic, then melted it into a dough-like consistency so that it could be pressed into shape.
They sell too many products today for that level of hands-on plastic collection, so now they order pellets of recycled plastic instead. They still get creative, however, pressing all sorts of plastic into power bank casings and portable speakers—which are sold in New York’s MoMA gift shop.
I’ve taken my charger on quite a few trips over the last six months and have enjoyed that it’s a conversation piece as well as a functional travel product.
As consumers, we make a lot of noise about wanting greener flights, less environmentally damaging products, more responsible packaging, and more ethical brands to sell us these things. But it’s hard to understand what the ‘greener’ choice is. I know I find it hard, and I’ve been testing gear and interviewing designers and sustainability managers for nearly a decade.
Unlike many other products that loudly bill themselves as ‘eco-friendly’, Gomi’s devices seem to have a clear and obvious sustainability advantage: Materials aside, every piece of the product is repairable or replaceable, unlike the garden-variety power bank you might buy for USD$10 or even $100. The company is loud about making this a selling point, which is encouraging. Repair capabilities are something we’d like to see from more brands in every product category.
Is the Gomi power bank the all-around ‘best’ power bank you can buy? Probably not. But is it an artful, sustainable conversation piece that achieves what nearly every typical user needs it to do? Yes.
At USD$75, you can certainly find a cheaper power bank out there. And at 247 grams (about half a pound), you could certainly find a lighter-weight one, too. But unless you’re the sort of backpacker who cuts the handle off your toothbrush, or you plan to spend a lot of time charging your phone in the rain, I imagine this power bank will suit nearly all of your needs.
We’re not going to tell you to go out and buy a Gomi charger right now because it’s the most eco-friendly thing you can do today. If you already have a functioning power bank, you don’t need a new one–as we say in every gear review here, the most sustainable iteration of whatever it is you’re seeking is the one you already have, or a secondhand product. It still takes resources to manufacture something with sustainable materials and then ship it out to the consumer.
But if yours is on its way out and you need a new one, this might just be the next best thing.
