COREmarker is a product which aims to tackle a problem I had honestly never thought about. Porous paving is a critically important tool for helping to mediate storm water runoff. Options for absorptive paving include grass pavers such as Grasspave2, porous concrete, and loose gravel to name a few. The driving negatives with these solutions are maintenance and the inability to mark them.

COREmarker. Manufactured by The Honeycomb Core Company.

By mark them, I mean, provide the typical cue lines that tell drivers or other users where to park, which side to stay on, etc. Think about a gravel driveway or a grass paver system — how do you integrate lines into that? Does a grass paver parking lot automatically mean chaos and no rules? COREmarker is out to solve this issue with a clever product that both reduces maintenance and delineates space.

A small COREmarker fits within the COREgravel gravel stabilizer panel which has a honeycomb structure to grab both the gravel and the marker. At night, the COREmarkers glow-in-the-dark without use of power, electricity or wires. The COREmarker uses a phosphorescent glow that absorbs energy from the sun. Only 2 hours of sunlight can power the marker for 8 hours according to the company’s website.

The COREmarkers are made from recyclable Virgin Polypropylene and are made with withstand UV and chemical wear. The system is unobtrusive during the day, and pretty groovy at night. I imagine a field of gravel with little glowing lines and think of the games kids could come up with in a parking lot full of COREmarkers.

About the Company: The Honeycomb Core Co. is a family-owned business based in the mainland China. James Qiang, the owner, has built his business on family values as well as 16 years’ experience in management at an U.S. Fortune 500 company. True to its name, The Honeycomb Core Co. specializes in products that build on the strength of the honeycomb design found in nature. “The honey bees build a hexagon cell that is superior in strength for its weight, so we use that design to create core products that are lightweight and amazingly strong.”