Michal Bryxí 🌱Vegetable: Perishes after a week. Maybe two if stored in perfect conditions.
Packaging of said vegetable: I can last hundreds of years, no problem!
dezeen (unofficial)Notpla is a biodegradable material designed "to make packaging disappear"
Sustainable startup Notpla has created an edible, biodegradable packaging made from seaweed and plants that was designed to replace plastic.
Notpla's eponymous packaging has been shortlisted for this year's Dezeen Awards in the sustainable design category.
Notpla has been designed as an alternative to plastic
Its name is a shortening of "not plastic," referring to the fact that while it looks plastic, the product is actually made from seaweed and plants.
Branding agency Superunion coined Notpla's name as well as a visual identity for the startup. This includes an animated logo that resembles a vessel filling up with water that is only visible when "filled" – as is the case with clear packaging.
Superunion created a visual identity for the startup
"Notpla is a seaweed-based, sustainable packaging startup on a mission to make packaging as we know it disappear naturally," Superunion senior creative director Mark Wood told Dezeen.
"Every year, 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped in the oceans. The world’s behaviours need to change when it comes to single-use plastic," he explained.
The material can be used to hold condiments
According to Notpla's designers, the material is entirely biodegradable and edible and can be composted at home in four to six weeks.
So far, the packaging has been used to create thin films and coating for cardboard takeaway boxes, as well sachets for condiments.
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Notpla says seaweed is a sustainable material from which to create packaging because the underwater plant does not need to compete with food crops for land, and also sequesters carbon dioxide – the process of removing it from the atmosphere.
The startup is also behind Ooho, which are sachets made from Notpla designed to be consumed by runners during sporting events.
In 2019, Ooho was trialled at the London Marathon where runners were offered the sachets, which were filled with Lucozade sports drink, while they ran.
Ooho, which is made from Notpla, has been trialled at sporting events
The Notpla designers have also created smaller-scale versions of Ohoo that are intended to hold liquids such as toothpaste, coffee and suncream.
"The ultimate aim is to stop billions of single-use plastic packaging from ever being made by providing a positive alternative," Wood said. "We believe Notpla has the potential to turn the tide on plastic waste."
The packaging is clear in colour
Formerly known as Skipping Rock Lab before Superunion rebranded it, Notpla was founded by Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier in 2014 while the pair were studying Innovation Design Engineering.
Other projects nominated in the Dezeen Awards sustainable category include Honext panels, which are made from recycled cardboard and paper sludge, and Alive, an organic prototype for architecture that promotes human health.
The images are courtesy of Notpla and Superunion.
Project credits:
Senior creative director: Mark Wood
Designer: Ilaria Celata
Senior account manager: Nicola Bennett-Cook
Co-founder: Pierre Paslier
Co-founder: Rodrigo Gonzales
Co-founder: Lise Honsinger
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#products #materials #all #design #technology #sustainabledesign #plants #packaging #seaweed #biodegradablematerials #compostablematerials #biomaterials
Studio.traccia shows food-waste table and crockery at Milan design week
Milan-based architecture and design practice Studio.traccia has designed and curated an installation at Milan design week that comprises a modular table and objects crafted from food waste.
Titled Tabula [non] Rasa, the installation-cum-table setting was developed in collaboration with a collection of designers, researchers and companies in an effort to explore the possibilities of food-waste recycling.
Top image: a place setting at the installation. Above: the table was set with objects made from biowaste
The installation is on display at the BASE Milano exhibition in Zona Tortona as part of the 2021 edition of Milan design week.
"It's a table that is made from organic waste and we wanted to invite every designer and brand involved with food waste research to design objects," Studio.traccia co-founder Luigi Olivieri told Dezeen.
The table is comprised of five individual modular tables
The studio explained that around twenty per cent – roughly 931 million tonnes – of food produced for human consumption is wasted each year.
"Food [recycling] is one research that is currently not developed yet," said Olivieri.
"A lot of people are recycling other products like plastic, waste from oil, industrial products, steel and concrete, but no one is really exploring [recycling] food."
Its surface was made from a bio-based resin
The table shown at the exhibition was created by Studio.traccia as a modular design, with each piece forming its own individual table. These can then be combined to create a larger table.
Its tabletop was created by Mogu, a European brand that uses mycelium-based technology to develop sustainable materials, and was constructed using bio-based resin and food waste including rice, straw, corn crops, coffee grounds, algae and shells. It rests on steel legs.
A cow-blood bowl and cup by Basse Stittgenare were placed on top of coasters and placemats
The Studio.traccia-designed table was then topped with tableware and objects that were also crafted from food waste.
"The food was something you ate and now it becomes something you eat from," said Studio.traccia co-founder Claudia Orsetti.
A Crafting Plastics translucent placemat was placed on top of a table cloth by Orange Fiber and a placemat by Malai
Each place setting was framed by organically shaped placemats. The mats were made by Malai using waste-fibres from fruit and vegetables, and were individually shaped to perfectly fit the forms of each table module.
Individual, rounded tablecloths by Orange Fiber were also used for the table setting. Each was derived from citrus juice byproducts by extracting cellulose from the fruit peels and weaving it into yarn.
"The use of organic waste for the creation of new materials that could replace traditional ones is only one of the possible paths that must be urgently explored," said the studio.
"It is a way of relating two separate problems, which together have the capacity to produce reciprocal solutions, and at the same time to generate positive effects on a social, economic and environmental level."
Ylem studio's Midushi Kochhar created rounded plates from eggshells
Artist and designer Basse Stittgen created bowls and plates from discarded cows' blood collected from slaughterhouses.
Beneath the blood-formed bowls sits plates by Midushi Kochhar, which were made from calcium-based waste from bio-materials such as eggshells.
Crafting Plastics' contribution to the installation included towering beige-hued bio-plastic vases and semi-transparent placemats that were similarly made using corn bio-plastics.
The products each have a textural quality.
Translucent bowls made from microbial cellulose, developed by Swiss designer and researcher Emma Sicher, as well as plates by Rice House were also shown as part of the display.
Squared, coaster-like ornaments by Korean research studio Newtab-22 were constructed using discarded seashells and rest beneath cups by Repulp Design derived from citrus waste.
Vases and chargers by Crafting Plastics
Other projects on display at this year's Milan Design Week include a scented bioplastic room divider by Crafting Plastics and Office MMK and a powercut-resilient incubator by Fabien Roy that protects babies from hypothermia.
Tabula [non] Rasa will be on display at the BASE Milano exhibition as part ofMilan Design Week, which takes place from 5 to 10 September 2021. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest information you need to know to attend the event, as well as a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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#all #installations #design #food #milandesignweek #compostablematerials
On Repeat aims to take plastic-free packaging beyond the "eco-hippy-mama market"
A new service offers to help beauty brands reduce plastic waste by distributing their products in dissolvable and compostable refills.
The startup, called On Repeat, has developed "easy and cost-effective" refill packs that can be used for a range of different liquids, powders and balms.
The packs are made using materials that can be easily disposed of at home, including a non-toxic film that dissolves in hot water, a bio-based film that can be put in a compost heap, and FSC-certified cardboard.
As well as producing the packaging, the London-based company offers a complete packing and distribution service.
On Repeat's refills are packaged in materials that can be disposed of at home
The UK uses an estimated five million tonnes of plastic every year, nearly half of which is packaging. Yet a recent report from The British Beauty Council revealed that 91 per cent of consumers want their products to have less packaging and 88 per cent want to be able to refill their cosmetics.
For On Repeat founder Micaela Nisbet, this was the impetus to start the business. She hopes to attract many different brands to sign up so that she can have a significant impact on reducing plastic waste.
"It needs to be big in order to effect proper change," she told Dezeen.
"We want to reach the broader market, not just the eco-hippy-mama market," she said. "For us to do that, the service needs to be super easy and cost-effective for both brands and consumers. Because if it isn't, people are not going to come back to it."
The refill packs can be used for liquids, powders and balms
Nisbet developed the concept after customers for her own skincare brand, Neighbourhood Botanicals, started asking her if they could order refills.
She couldn't find a solution she felt was genuinely sustainable because while it is easy to source recyclable plastic films, often they are not disposed of as intended.
"It's only rigid plastics like bottles that really get recycled," Nisbet explained. "So when brands sell refills that say they are fully recyclable, it's true in theory but it just doesn't happen in practice."
Brand founder Micaela Nisbet tested more than 50 different films
After testing more than 50 different types of film, Nisbet and her business partners selected two films that they felt could cover all different types of cosmetic products.
For transporting anhydrous serums and oils, they chose a film that dissolves completely in boiling water.
Rather than producing microplastics, it turns into carbon dioxide, water and natural minerals that can be rinsed down the drain.
Serums and oils are packed in a non-toxic film that dissolves in boiling water
Water-based products are packaged using a bio-based film made from ingredients that include paper, eucalyptus fibre, cassava and corn starch. It completely decomposes in 32 weeks when placed in a composter.
All products are encased in a cardboard wrapper printed with vegetable inks.
Water-based products are packaged in a compostable bio-based film
The system is designed to be as simple as possible. Brands send their product in bulk form, then On Repeat takes care of the rest.
On Repeat integrates a brand's e-commerce store into its own distribution software, so it can fulfil orders as they come in. Product is packaged up into the refill packs – along with custom labels including the brand's logo, product information and batch codes – and sent out for delivery within 24 hours.
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The refill wallets are small enough to fit through a letterbox so that the customer doesn't have to be home to receive deliveries.
To use the refill, the customer follows instructions on the packaging. They cut the corner off the wallet with a pair of scissors and decant the product into an empty refill bottle, ready for use.
Neighbourhood Botanicals sells its own products in glass and aluminium bottles, to make them better suited for refilling than plastic.
On Repeat's service covers the entire packing and distribution process
On Repeat is not the first company experimenting with refill options.
Hand wash company Forgo and cleaning products company Spruce are among those that offer products in powder form to reduce the amount of packaging required. Customers then add water themselves.
Brands such as Myro and Fussy have created refillable deodorants, while By Humankind offers a range of refillable products that include mouthwash.
The company offers custom labels including logos and product info
Nisbet hopes to open up the world of refills to an even larger audience. She said that, as the brand expands, she would like to set up her own farm so that she can produce the compostable and dissolvable films herself. She also imagines branching out into other types of home products besides toiletries.
"We just want to make that process as seamless as possible," she said. "We want to make it so everyone can get exactly the products that they want and not have to compromise."
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#all #products #design #sustainabledesign #packaging #cosmetics #toiletries #compostablematerials
Ohmie is a 3D-printed lamp made from orange peels
Milan-based start-up Krill Design has 3D printed Sicilian orange peels into a tactile lamp that can be composted along with organic household waste.
The designers at Krill Design turned to orange peel to create the lightweight lamp because of the citrus fruit's ubiquity in Sicily, Italy.
Each lamp is made from the discarded peels of two or three oranges sourced from a family-owned food producer in the Messina province of Sicily.
Top: each lamp is made from two or three oranges. Above: Ohmie retains the natural bumpy feel and smell of oranges
"We needed a material that would not run out and given that Sicily alone produces about 3 per cent of global oranges, that allows us to stock up on the peels and be able to always produce Ohmie," Krill Design told Dezeen.
"We are keen on promoting a local and fully Italian supply and production chain. Oranges are one of the many Italian produces renowned worldwide and we believe it is a nice symbol."
Ohmie is made from locally sourced Sicilian oranges
From its patterned surface to its orangey smell and vibrant colour, the 23-centimetre-tall lamp was designed to reflect its origins.
The designers hope the lamp demonstrates how food waste can be successfully repurposed into an "eco-design product that is both "beautiful and functional".
The peels are ground down and combined with starch before being 3D printed
After use, the Ohmie lamp can be broken down by hand into smaller pieces before being thrown away with the household's organic waste, the studio explained.
"The orange lamp, at the end of its life, can simply be broken into fragments and tossed with the household's organic waste to be disposed of in composting facilities and be turned either into compost or biofuel depending on local dispositions," said Krill Design.
Currently, the remains have to be sent to a composting facility instead of decomposing straight into nature.
"We decided to develop a material that, for now, would only decompose in industrial facilities for performance and durability reasons, but we would like to research more and achieve a biopolymer that can be durable and sturdy as well as easy composted in nature or in an at-home compost," it added.
The light can be broken down and composted in a composting factory
Krill Design used 3D-printing techniques to "avoid any form of waste during production". The orange peels are ground down and combined with vegetable starch before being 3D printed.
"Once the peels have arrived in our office in Milan they are dried – the organic scraps need to have moisture level below 4 per cent – ground to a fine powder and sifted to make sure all grains are fine enough," the studio said.
The designers hope to show how food waste can be effectively repurposed
The peel powder is then sent to a compounding facility where it is added to a biopolymeric vegetable starch base. Afterwards, the orange biopolymer is produced in the form of pellets.
This is the only part of the production phase that is outsourced, the brand said.
"Only this phase of the process is outsourced as the machinery needed is extremely bulky and expensive," Krill Design explained.
"After this, we extrude the orange filament from the pellet and use it within a 3D printer to bring Ohmie to life."
Fruits have been used in a number of designs. Copenhagen-based brand Beyond Leather combined apple juice leftovers with natural rubber to create Leap, a plant-based alternative to leather, while Júlia Roca Vera has created a cosmetics line made from discarded fruits.
Photography is byKrill Design.
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#all #lighting #design #products #lamps #productdesign #homewaredesign #3dprinting #homeware #compostablematerials
Forest and Whale designs edible Reuse food containers made from wheat husks
Design studio Forest and Whale has created Reuse, a container for takeaways made from packaging that can be eaten or composted once the food is finished.
The Singapore-based studio, founded by Gustavo Maggio and Wendy Chua, created the vessel in an attempt to help cut down on the usage of single-use plastic.
Forest and Whale's Reuse container is made from wheat husks
The studio's Reuse container is made from wheat husks.
"The wheat husk is ground into smaller pellets and then, with the addition of a small amount of natural binder and water, pressed within two metal moulds at high temperature," Maggio told Dezeen.
"This gives shape to the final container, which is then ready to use."
The Reuse container was designed for takeaways
The resulting container can be used to hold any food but is most suitable for salad, as it can't withstand moisture for too long.
"It can hold a salad with dressing for a couple of hours, but it will slowly start softening and losing rigidity," Maggio said. "The ideal use is for takeaways, where you eat within two to three hours."
Parts of the container can be broken off and used to eat with
The Reuse container is meant to be used only once and can be eaten after it's been emptied, though Maggio says it's not the tastiest.
"The closest reference I can think of in terms of taste is bran sticks, but it is not particularly tasty to be honest," he said.
The bowl was designed with four small precut lines that enable the user to tear off pieces of the container to use as a tool to eat with.
"The design of this salad bowl came from observing and analysing eating rituals and trying to find the ideal use for this material," Maggio said.
"In many cultures, salads are accompanied by a slice of bread or breadstick that acts as a tool to help eating and also gives a contrasting texture to the salad ingredient."
Both the container and the lid can be composted, but the lid is not edible
If the user doesn't choose to eat the container, it can be placed in a regular composting bin where it will decompose in about 30 days.
The lid for the container is made from polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), a bacteria-based composite with properties similar to plastic.
This is not edible, but it can also be composted in regular compost bins, where it will decompose in less than six weeks. It will fully biodegrade in nature and if it were to go into the ocean, it would decompose within three months without leaving microplastic behind, the studio said.
Forest and Whale is currently prototyping the Reuse container and hopes to bring it to the market this year.
Images courtesy of Forest and Whale.
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#all #design #products #sustainabledesign #homewaredesign #packaging #compostablematerials