Tag Archives: Sustainability

This 3D printed sustainable clay range is an indigenous storage solution that reduces food waste!

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All over the world, we face the challenge of waste generation and management. Most people think that plastic is the biggest culprit but you would be surprised to know that food waste the largest waste contributor worldwide. To put it into context, food is responsible for 44% while plastic is responsible for 12% – that is a problem we need to fix and designer Lea Randebrock is taking a step in the right direction with her Clay Pantry collection.

About 1/4th of the food waste, which is generated in industrialized countries goes back to the actions of consumers and the busy lifestyles of western countries in combination with a lack of knowledge. Old-timey solutions like root-cellars made it possible to store produce throughout winter but now we have cheap food that is quick to cook and always available which has been taken for granted. People are not only detached from their environment but also from the food they consume and Clay Pantry wants to change that approach through its organic design. It provides a suitable space for fruits and vegetables which make up for the highest waste count. Inspired by traditional storing methods, this collection was created to be used within our modern lifestyle settings – the best of both worlds. The furniture-container collection includes the Root Stool, Fruit Shelf, Tempered Box, and Watering Jug which are all crafted around the behavior and actions of watering plants. “By watering the objects like plants, the focus goes effortlessly to the objects and the content,” describes Randebrock who has been a student of furniture design and is inspired by indigenous materials.

Clay has been used since ancient times as a storage solution for food and drinks, having grown up in India it is a big part of the culture and in fact, water stored in clay pots is always cooler (and sweeter!). The cooling effect is due to the porosity of earthenware which has natural cooling properties when soaked with water. Clay Pantry optimizes this property to give you a range of storage containers for small, urban homes. The Root Stool provides dry and dark storage space and the Tempered Box was created for produce that needs humid and cool conditions. The Fruit Shelf and Water Jug are self-explanatory. Clay Pantry’s modular nature makes it a perfect fit for compact apartments and for those looking for an eco-friendly storage solution for their produce.

“In the situation followed by the challenging spring of 2020, I believe it is more important than ever to include empathy in our society. Any aspects of everyday life are challenged and need to be redesigned and restructured. While this is a challenging time, this is a chance to question the status quo. As a designer, I hope to contribute in a positive way to a Post-Corona society,” says Randebrock, a student of the Royal College of Arts. She has used a traditional food storage method but brought it to life using 3D printing – the best of both worlds is embodied in this collection that serves us and our environment.

Designer: Lea Randebrock

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Vollebak’s 100% biodegradable plant+pomegranate hoodie can be composted in your backyard!

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Vollebak continues to push the limits every time on how innovative, functional, and sustainable their designs can be while I push the limits on why I need more hoodies in my closet. I didn’t choose the hoodie life but Vollebak did and they are making the most of it in their latest hoodie made from compostable plants and pomegranate!

Inspired by our ancestors who made their clothes using grass, tree bark, animal skins, and plants, etc. the Plant and Pomegranate hoodie feels, looks, and lasts as long as a normal hoodie but it is far from normal. Think of it as the Clark Kent of hoodies – it looks ordinary and then when you take a closer look, you realize its superpower which in this case is helping our environment. Vollebak has been a leader in making sustainable apparel that is also super innovative like its solar power jacket, the indestructible hoodie, and the biodegradable algae t-shirt which is the closest product to the Plant and Pomegranate hoodie. “The thing that makes it different is simply the way it starts and ends its life. Each hoodie is made from eucalyptus trees from sustainably managed forests before being submerged in a giant vat of pomegranate dye to give it its color. As it’s made entirely from plants, the hoodie is fully biodegradable and compostable,” explains the team.

Once you feel your hoodie has completed its circle of life (it could be 3 years or 30!) then all you have to do is put it out with the compost or bury it in your garden. Vollebak’s hoodie was given birth from elements grown in nature and ends it’s life there too, you can quote Rafiki in the funeral if you decide to hold one in case you are as extra as me. Don’t hold back tears, they might just water a new pomegranate plant in your garden! Ending fast fashion and adopting a sustainable clothing style might seem like a small step but it is still an important step to reduce waste generation and help our planet. Your closet and the climate will both thank you for making eco-conscious decisions – so, let the hoodie life choose you!

Designer: Vollebak

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Can NIVEA’s 3D printed shower gel refill station prototype really reduce plastic packaging waste?

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Brands are consciously moving towards eco-friendly practices and the first hurdle every single one of them has to overcome is plastic packaging waste. NIVEA’s parent company is German giant Beiersdorf and they are on a mission to reduce packaging waste by minimizing and closing their material cycles. And for NIVEA that meant launching a shower gel refill station! Now it is a good first step and has its pros but also has some cons. The biggest con is that shower gels itself are not good for the environment and there is no way to know how many bottles actually get rinsed clean before they are recycled – otherwise, it doesn’t work. Shower gels also need a lot of water to be made, and as climate change makes the world hotter/drier, the water crisis is already a big issue in many countries. A solution to that? Bar soaps! NIVEA makes those too, they use less water and can be packaged in recycled paper – that is the real solution but if this refill station reduces some plastic waste and sparks a movement for the brand to take bigger steps, then we are here to see it.

The prototype is going to be tested in select locations where the brand will gather data on how consumers are interacting, feeling, reacting to the concept of reusable bottles. The prototype machine was made with their in-house 3D printers. NIVEA hopes that with this refill station they will make it convenient for consumers to reuse containers and reduce plastic usage. Once they experience that it is easy to make small sustainable lifestyle changes, they will be quicker to adopt it as a habit. The refill station has been carefully designed, developed, and engineered by a cross-functional team within Beiersdorf’s global packaging and R&D functions. Consumers can refill up to three times before sending their bottles to be recycled and get a new one for hygiene reasons – this limitation slows down the plastic consumption problem but without longevity in the solution, it will not end the cycle.

Caroline Zia, Senior Formula Developer at Beiersdorf wanted to make sure that the concept worked for sustainability and for the consumer’s experience. “The formulations need to withstand the additional burden of refilling and we had to carefully choose our products after extensive internal testing. Also, the machine had to be programmed for additional cleaning protocols so that we could guarantee multiple filling loops and still meet our safety and sustainability criteria,’ she explains. The machine’s design had to also account for the retailer’s interior requirements while providing easy user experience. “We decided to use light as visual support to guide the users. Whenever one of the dedicated refill-bottles has been filled or a bar code has been printed, the integrated LED lights give feedback to the consumer,” says Marta Suslow, Concept Designer at Beiersdorf’s packaging department. Other details include formula choice and refill cycles, sophisticated pumps, color-changing lights, a label printer, and a programmed microcontroller.

While this is a good start, personal care brands, especially global giants like NIVEA can step up their game to find real solutions that make it a sustainable choice. You already have the product and the presence, pivot to reducing plastic waste at a larger scale as well as reduce water consumption with one ‘clean’ move – soap.

Designers: Marta Suslow, Caroline Zia, Koushik Sreedhar, Bernhard Felten, Cecile Ratschow of Beiersdorf

 

Facebook used 86 percent renewable energy in 2019

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In 2018, Facebook declared a goal to power its operations with 100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2021. Ahead of that deadline, the company appears to be on track. In its first ever sustainability report, published today, Facebook announced t...

Recycled sand and plastic waste are used to make this sustainable brick!

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Did you know that the construction industry actually contributes more to global warming than the aviation industry Construction is responsible for 39% of the world’s CO2 emissions while aviation is responsible for 2% and that means we need a sustainable building material before we need electric airplanes. Rhino Machines is an Indian company that has recently launched a sustainable alternative to the traditional brick called the silica plastic block in collaboration with architectural firm R+D Studio.

We’ve seen mushrooms turn into bricks and now we are seeing this brick made of 80% recycled sand waste/foundry dust and 20% mixed plastic waste. The SPB (silicone plastic block) was created to curb the gigantic dust waste from construction that contributes to India’s pollution levels that are already hazardous in major cities. The project started with a goal of producing zero waste from the sand reclamation plant in the Rhino Machines foundry plant. There were many experiments before landing on this ratio, initially foundry dust was used in cement-bonded fly ash bricks (7-10% waste recycled) and clay bricks (15% waste recycled). This production process was reliant on natural supplies such as cement, fertile soil, and water which wouldn’t justify the team’s criteria of creating something that was more environmentally friendly. After multiple trials and research, the solution of bonding sand/foundry dust with plastic was born. Since it is made out of waste, the cost of production is relatively low and Rhino Machines is working on an ecosystem solution so that the foundries across the country can develop and distribute the SPBs within their zones.

The team used mixed plastic waste as a bonding agent which reduced the need for water during mixing and thereafter curing is completely eliminated. These sustainable bricks would be directly used after cooling down from the molding process. Over four months the team approached hospitals, societies, individuals, social organizations, and the local municipal corporations to provide clean plastic. A total of six tonnes of plastic waste and sixteen tonnes of dust + sand from the foundry industry were collected, ready to be recycled. The SPB bricks were 2.5 times stronger than the regular red clay bricks and used 80% lesser natural resources too – now you can build a stronger home that also lets your home planet be strong. Better to use that plastic in bricks than to put it in the sea!

Designers: Rhino Machines and R+D Studio

Adidas and Allbirds team up to make environmentally friendly shoes

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Sneaker brands collaborate all the time, but they usually do so with companies outside of the footwear industry. Adidas’ latest joint effort, though, involves sustainable shoe maker Allbirds, and the two hope to create a high performance sneaker whil...

Microsoft’s chief environmental officer on why we need a Planetary Computer

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What if we could treat the Earth like a computer, a system with an ever-flowing set of data that can be tracked, analyzed, and potentially even predicted. That's the gist of Microsoft's latest environmental initiative, which it's dubbed a "Planetary...