Toepener opens doors for start-ups

Within crowded restaurants, workplaces and airports you will find plenty of people who fret about the amount of circulating germs.

The Toepener is a simple aluminum device that attaches to doors, enabling users to open the door with their feet and thus providing a sanitary, hands-free alternative.

Engineered by a group of business students at the University of Minnesota, the Toepener has already been installed at four restaurants and a school.

“It is the ideal solution for exiting a public restroom… The Toepener is a great way to help reduce the spread of germs and keep people healthy,” the website says.

The website also features a video of the tool in use, as well as amusing reenactments of life before the Toepener.

The Toepener might not be a particularly groundbreaking idea, but it certainly suggests there is demand for any device that can reduce the spread of germs. What other business ideas would appeal to consumers’ hygiene concerns?