Studio Tjeerd Veenhoven

You wouldn’t expect landfills and oceans to be teeming with discarded backpacks, and they aren’t single-use either, but what do you do with a damaged backpack? Let me guess… you seldom stitch it yourself or get it fixed. If a bag breaks, it gets discarded for a newer, better bag, and Aishwarya Nair believes that the best way to battle that mindset isn’t to change it, but to feed it with something sustainable.

This is the Sustainable Backpack, and it’s made entirely from sustainable materials that Nair developed over the years with Studio Tjeerd Veenhoven, which she also used in her design for an eco-friendly, disposable travel kit. The Sustainable Backpack’s rustic, natural construction shouldn’t be entirely shocking, believes Aishwarya, after all, we’ve had wicker baskets and jute bags for centuries now, and while the modern-day backpack hasn’t quite seen the use of these materials, they’re virtually designed for creating containers and vessels for carrying items.

At the very center of the Sustainable Backpack is its thin bamboo framework, which gives it the shape and the stability it needs, upon which lies a jute fabric clad. The bag’s decorative element comes from its triangular-cut patterned flap made from palm-tree-bark. The tree bark’s grains run horizontally, while the triangular pattern gives it a visual dynamism while also allowing the bag’s flap to bend like fabric, albeit quite interestingly. The bag’s straps come made from treated banana bark, chosen for their flexibility, ability to hold weight, and their ultimate softness, which allows the wearer to carry the bag with ease. Speaking of carrying bags with ease, the Sustainable Backpack uses a breathable rubberized coir lining on the inside to give the bag’s fabric its softness and natural breathability. Designed to prevent any sweat-stains on your back caused from wearing the bag for too long, the coir lining is lightweight and comfortable, comparable almost to the PU foam or neoprene pads used in bags. To structure it well, as well as maintain breathability, Nair chose to cover the coir layer with a woven cane framework, which also lends an interesting patterned element on the back to match the one in front.

Ultimately, the goal of the Sustainable Backpack was to provide an all-natural alternative to bags made with woven Nylon or other polymer-based fabrics. Aside from being a completely biodegradable product, the Sustainable Backpack’s big advantage is also its ability to be produced on a low carbon footprint, not creating any hazardous chemicals or emissions during production, manufacturing, and assembly.

Designer: Aishwarya Nair for Studio Tjeerd Veenhoven

Softened banana leaf, water hyacinth leaf, corn-silk… you don’t often hear these terms used in fashion and apparel, but this ecologically-aware travel kit is set to change that status quo. Ditching the more commonly used materials like microbeads, lycra, neoprene, memory-foam, etc, the Banana Leaf Travel Kit is made entirely out of naturally available resources, with minimal processing, and is designed to be soothing, soft-to-the-touch but also entirely disposable and biodegradable.

Designed by Aishwarya Nair along with assistance from Studio Tjeerd Veenhoven, the Banana Leaf Travel Kit introduces a new material to the world…Softened Banana Leaf, a fabric that’s created after treating banana leaves with a “special solution” that allows them to become permanently soft and feel great against the skin.

The travel kit is a set of accessories that Aishwarya claims are perfect for hotels, travel agencies, flights, or even tropical cruises to distribute to their patrons. Based loosely on Mahatma Gandhi’s fabled concept of “hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil”, the kit contains a mouth-mask, an eye-mask, and a pair of earmuffs. The mouth-mask is made with softened banana leaves, while the eye-mask uses a banana-leaf exterior and a corn-silk interior for utmost comfort. Usually thrown away as a by-product of corn-harvesting, the silk is known to be soft, and when stuffed inside the banana-leaf envelope, gives the material a new lease of life. The earmuffs come made from the banana leaf too, but contain a layer of softened water-hyacinth on the inside. Water hyacinth is one of the world’s fastest growing plants, and is often considered a nuisance for the way it covers entire lakes, starving the eco-system beneath it of sunlight and oxygen. Using water-hyacinth to make travel accessories would give one access to an entire reservoir of raw-material that’s all up for grabs.

Ultimately, the entire kit is made with natural materials and elastic-cords that secure the products around your face. Use them as many times as you need and dispose them and the banana leaves, corn-silk, and water hyacinth biodegrade almost instantly, returning back to nature, rather than polluting it!

Designer: Aishwarya Nair for Studio Tjeerd Veenhoven