Tag Archives: biodegradable

Champion sweatshirts and joggers are biodegradable and sustainable

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Have you ever had one of those dreams, or rather, nightmares, when your clothes suddenly fall off your body like it was decomposing or something? That will probably not happen in real life, at least not instantly. But for those who are pursuing sustainable fashion, this is actually a good dream and not a nightmare. We’re seeing clothing brands experiment with biodegradable clothing and Champion is one such brand to do so.

Designer: Champion

The Reverse Weave Eco Future Collection is a line of biodegradable sweatshirt and joggers made from sustainable materials. You can wear it repeatedly until it naturally breaks down and decomposes over time. They use the CiCLO technology which helps bring about this natural decomposition process over time and help reduce the impact of plastic textile fibers and lessen microfiber pollution which is one of the major effects of the clothing industry on our carbon footprint.

The technology uses an additive that is combined with polyester and nylon during the fiber-making process. The process called melt extrusion turns them into liquid when heated and then they are turned into long threads. Other elements of the sweatshirts and joggers also use eco-friendly materials like the tags and labels ause pure cotton while the hangtags are printed with soybean ink. Even the colors used are from dyes extracted from pomegranate rinds, annatto, Terminalia Chebula fruit crusts, and kerria lacca insects.

In terms of the design, the sweatshirts and joggers in the Reverse Weave Eco Future Collection are just your usual. They do look comfortable since they’re oversized and unisex, so that’s another plus. The joggers have hip pockets and a drawcord waist for added comfort. But of course the main reason why you’d want any of these pieces is that they are biodegradable and friendly to Mother Earth. They’re available in different sizes and colors so there’s a variety to choose from.

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This compostable iPhone case can be potted to grow plants and flowers

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Although smartphone manufacturers design their phones to be durable and resilient, a lot of owners still fret over the safety of their expensive purchases. Phone cases are a dime a dozen, but while that might be good for variety and choice, it’s terrible for the planet. These accessories are almost all made from some form of plastic or another, and they get discarded left and right the moment they become discolored or damaged. Very few manufacturers pay close attention to this aspect because of how protective cases have to be made cheap and plenty. Fortunately, there is a number that does take that responsibility quite seriously, producing this revolutionary iPhone case that you can plant in the soil after it has reached its end of life to watch it grow into new life as plants and flowers.

Designer: iGreen

There’s no rule that phone cases have to be made from plastic or plastic-like materials, they just happen to be cheap, durable, and long-lasting. They’re not immortal, of course, and once cases break or get discolored over time, they’re completely useless and have to be thrown out. That’s not even considering perfectly usable cases that are disposed of simply because they are no longer attractive or match the owner’s interests. Some manufacturers do have programs for recycling the plastics in these cases to make new cases, but iGreen Gadgets actually has an even more creative use for these discarded accessories.

For starters, the case is 100% compostable, so it will decay and dissolve into the earth when buried. The material is based on cornstarch, a very common biodegradable substance that’s also used in many plastic alternatives. Even the powder used to produce colors is also naturally based. Despite its completely biodegradable nature, the cases still provide the necessary protection your iPhone needs to survive accidents and avoid an early retirement in landfills.

The difference from other bioplastic cases is that each iGreen Cover case contains living seeds protected by a special water-soluble film inside the cover. Once the case has served its purpose, you simply have to plant it in a pot at a 30-degree angle with the inside of the cover facing up. You cover it with soil while leaving the upper half of the case exposed, water it, and expose it to sunlight, and within a few weeks, you will be able to witness your phone case transforming into plants.

Different case colors hold different kinds of seeds. Green will grow basil, yellow for daisies, and light blue for Forget-me-nots. The case itself, specifically the cornstarch, contains everything the seeds need to survive inside the case and then grow once planted. The plants that grow won’t be that practical. The flowers are mostly decorative, though basil can probably be used for cooking. Still, it’s a rather ingenious and creative way to reuse a product that’s often discarded mindlessly, turning a planet-killer into a plant-grower.

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This sustainable coffee cup can help your plants grow at the end of its own life

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Some say that the world runs on coffee or that coffee is what actually makes it go round. Regardless of opinion, there’s no denying how much of the brown liquid is consumed every day, whether at home or especially from coffee shops like the famous (or infamous) Starbucks. When taking the latter into account, you can’t but help consider the amount of waste the coffee industry is producing simply from the cups alone, whether plastic or biodegradable paper. More conscientious coffee lovers have switched to reusable tumblers to help minimize their impact on the environment, but that is only half a step better than using plastic drinkware. This portable coffee cup, in contrast, takes the product’s lifecycle into account and puts it to good use even when you can no longer drink from it.

Designer: Alex Philpott (Beta Design Office)

Most coffee tumblers today are made from a combination of materials such as plastic, rubber, metal, and silicone. While some of these might be considered sustainable, the sum of the parts isn’t. These reusable drinking vessels naturally last a lot longer than the disposable variety served at many coffee shops, but they still end up polluting the land and seas at the end of their lives. Definitely not a good way to give back to the Earth that produces the coffee beans and water that fuel our modern lives.

That’s where the Earthmade Aromacup sets itself apart. Using Bamboo-O, an eco-friendly material made from bamboo fiber and plant starch, these travel coffee cups offer a significantly more sustainable option than typical silicone or thermal tumblers. More than just the materials and processes, however, the drinkware’s life continues even after it is no longer usable, at least not by humans. It can be easily used as compost material at home, contributing to the healthy growth of plants that, in turn, could nourish our food or clean up the air at the very least.

Beyond its sustainability, however, the Earthmade Aromacup also offers practical features matched with a clean aesthetic. A user-friendly keyhole locking mechanism makes it safe to bring your coffee or any favorite drink with you on the go, while easy disassembly makes it trivial to keep the cup clean and hygienic all the time. The cup’s soft body and ribbed texture offer a comfortable and safe grip when you need to take a sip anywhere.

The choice of single pastel colors, applied with food-safe coloring via a sustainable injection moulding process, visually sets it apart from most travel cups. At the same time, it appeals to the minimalist aesthetic that continues to trend, making these cups an attractive alternative to common, mass-produced coffee tumblers that also let owners feel good about their contribution to the Earth’s health every time they take a sip.

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Live inside a biodegradable habitable monster as imagined by this AI image generator

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One of my favorite children’s books of all time is Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. The movie adaptation was also pretty cool and gave us a surreal look at different kinds of fantastical creatures and what it would be like to play and live with them. But what would it be like to actually live inside these creatures without being eaten by them and have all the yucky actual organs and intestines? I mean I don’t think anyone would imagine living in them but apparently, monsters or at least AI-generated ones can be good organic and biodegradable habitations.

Designer: Juan Manuel Prieto

Habitable Monsters lets you “move into the warm womb of a living organism” if that’s what you’re looking for or have been dreaming about. The surreal and dream-like structures come complete with tentacles, fangs, scales, and other monster paraphernalia. So if you’re averse to these things, this is probably not your dream house. An integration of AI-generated art and innovations in biotechnology into architecture and construction can make this house eventually a reality.

If people are adventurous enough to try living at least temporarily inside one of these Habitable Monsters, they will be able to live in something that produces zero pollution. It will supposedly be 100% biodegradable and can be “born from itself” and can expand according to what will be programmed. Aside from being biodegradable, it’s also an energy saver since the walls, floors, and ceilings will provide you with the ventilation, cooling, and heating you need because of the muscle tissue, fur, and organic cells.

The look of these structures are of course pretty surreal and amazing, like they belong in any fantasy movie. But I can’t imagine anyone wanting to live inside them for long periods of time, especially if these will be made from organic materials and there’s even mention of the house sneezing and drooling. That seems straight out of a nightmare, but that may just be me. In any case, it will be an interesting kind of habitat for those looking for something unusual.

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Biodegradable cling film made from discarded potato skins is helping solve a MASSIVE plastic problem

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I’ll be honest, my biggest pet peeve with buying groceries or food online is the cling film (or saran wrap) it comes in. I get this overwhelming sense of existential dread whenever I peel off cling film from food, because I’m afraid that I’ll miss a small part of plastic and inevitably ingest it, but more importantly, this plastic (which can’t be recycled because of how thin it is) will end up in a landfill or the oceans, where it’ll cause even more problems. An Australian biomaterials company, however, has a much more elegant solution – nature-based cling film!

Meet Great Wrap, a biodegradable cling film that’s made from discarded potato skins combined with cooking oil and starch from the cassava root (more popularly known as tapioca). Unlike its petrochemical plastic alternative, Great Wrap’s cling film is made from natural materials, and like any biopolymer, breaks down into natural substances much faster than regular plastic. In fact, the Great Wrap can naturally biodegrade in as little as 180 days.

Designer: Great Wrap

Packaged in an oddly appealing container with a built-in slider-based cutter, Great Wrap offers an alternative to cling film that’s healthier both for the planet as well as for humans. While I wouldn’t quite advocate for eating it (it’ll probably still taste like plastic), the Great Wrap is, for all intents and purposes, organic… which means it isn’t toxic or harmful if ingested.

If you’ve ever seen videos on the internet of ‘clear potato chips’, the Great Wrap is rather similar in composition. Starch within the potato skins (and the cassava) helps create its plastic-like appearance, which can then be used to wrap up foods and extend their shelf-life. Currently, the Australia-based company sources its potato skins/peels from Idaho, which dramatically increases its carbon footprint. The company is working on being able to find local sources for discarded potato skins, so as to help reduce the Great Wrap’s overall carbon impact.

“The starch is extracted from the waste and then plasticized with a bio-based product,” explained Julia Kay, co-founder of Great Wrap. “The thermoplastic starch (TPS) is then compounded with used cooking oil, cassava, and biopolymer additives to change the polymer structure so that it is suitable for stretch film,” Kay added. The biopolymer additives help make the starchy material stretchy, so that it can mimic cling film’s ability to easily wrap around objects.

When discarded, the Great Wrap is certified to break down in 180 days. “Great Wrap breaks down the same way as food scraps, into food and energy for the microbes in your compost,” Kay explained. “It goes perfectly with your organic waste to be composted into rich nutrient soil, ready to be repurposed.”

The only barrier being faced by the company right now is the fact that Great Wrap doesn’t break down or degrade in marine environments like ocean ecosystems. In an effort to rectify this, the company has been working with researchers at Melbourne’s Monash University to find out how it can convert potato waste into polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), which can break down in oceans and other aquatic environments in less than a year. “We are currently scaling this system to pilot scale and in 2023 we will begin building our PHA biorefinery that will divert over 50,000 metric tonnes of potato waste from landfill every year”, says Kay. The product is set to launch in the US in 2023.

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World’s first fully biodegradable COVID test aims at tackling our massive medical waste problem

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A London-based design consultancy has created a concept testing device for Covid-19 that cuts down on the single-use plastic waste that has plagued us since the beginning of the pandemic. An estimated 26,000 tonnes of plastic Covid waste currently pollutes our oceans, according to a study published in November last year. Morrama’s ECO-FLO hopes to curb that number.

“Plastic has been at the front line of the pandemic – face masks, lateral flow tests, and sanitizer bottles” Morrama’s founder and creative director Jo Barnard said. “With new COVID-19 variants constantly evolving, active testing has been and will remain to be an important part of living with COVID-19. At Morrama, we were inspired to create a test kit that doesn’t contribute to the amount of plastic ending up in our landfills, so ECO-FLO was born.”

ECO-FLO was envisioned as a one-of-a-kind test kit that, instead of relying on nasal swabs, uses a saliva sample instead. The kit comes in four parts – the test kit, the test strip, an absorbent pad, and a sachet. While current lateral flow and PCR tests have a much more complicated (and failure-prone) procedure, using the ECO-FLO is much easier and foolproof. Just open the kit up and place your saliva sample in the designated absorbent pad. Close the kit and press the button on the front, and your results get displayed on the test strip. Once you’re done, place the kit back inside its sachet and dispose of it carefully.

The kit itself is made from recycled paper pulp, while the sachet it’s contained in uses a biodegradable Nature Flex film. Morrama mentions that when disposed of, the kit can naturally break down and disintegrate within 4 to 6 weeks.

Aside from being easy on the environment, Morrama mentions that ECO-FLO’s saliva-based testing system is a game-changing innovation too. The London-based studio is tapping into a nascent technology known as Parallel Amplified Saliva rapid POint-of-caRe Test (PASPORT) to make their test kit work. Unlike nasal swabs, which are invasive and also need to be performed with skill, the saliva-based testing kit offers a much more intuitive alternative. Reading the test results are easier too. Unlike current testing strips that read C for Control and T for Test, Morrama’s ECO-FLO uses a “tick box” style to indicate whether the result is positive. The London-based consultancy adds that it could be made available via the NHS or over the counter at pharmacies.

“Existing lateral flow tests were a reaction to the threat of the pandemic and were rolled at-speed to enable at-home testing. As a result, there were almost no considerations about the ease of use and the impact on the environment in either the production or disposal process. Now we have an opportunity to correct these mistakes”, says Andy Trewin Hutt, Associate Director at Morrama. “We have developed ECO-FLO to highlight the need for a more sustainable design. Projecting forward to future pandemics, ECO-FLO could offer a simpler, more accessible and more sustainable option to aid in keeping people safe through instantaneous mass testing, designed with people and the planet in mind.”

Designer: Morrama

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Living Coffin makes sure we continue the Circle of Life even in death

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Very few people are comfortable discussing matters related to death. In some cultures, it’s even taboo to do that. Despite social mores and psychological hurdles, there are businesses that thrive around the passing of family members and friends. The state environment might be the last thing on people’s minds when burying their loved ones, but it might shock them to learn that, even in death, we continue to harm the planet that has given us so much in our life. Since it’s a rather morbid topic that very few probably want to broach, it took vision, courage, and ingenuity to design a product that offers comfort to the bereaved while also giving back something to the environment, making sure that we continue to live on, even if in a completely different form.

Designer: Loop

Unless we have relatives or friends in the funeral business, we probably never give much thought to what pretty much becomes the last bed our body lies in. Presuming, of course, you don’t go for cremation or other practices and traditions. Few might have given any thought to the materials used for coffins, for example, and simply presume that they eventually decompose and disintegrate along with the human body. That, unfortunately, isn’t the case, and most of our funeral practices, be it burial or cremation, actually continue humanity’s crimes against Mother Nature.

The Living Coffin, which also goes by the less morbid name of Living Cocoon, shatters those misconceptions and even offers a way for people to make amends with the planet once they’ve ended their earthly journey. Instead of the typical materials used in coffins, which often use harmful chemicals or non-biodegradable materials, the “box” is actually made of mycelium. Or rather, the coffin is grown from a type of mushroom that is known for being nature’s biggest recycler.

The idea is not only for the coffin itself to return to the soil but also to transform dead organic matter into nutrients needed to grow plants. Yes, it basically turns your dead body into compost that could nurture new life. Instead of a cemetery filled with concrete, dead matter, and pollution, a burial site can actually become the start of a new forest, with each tree forever marking where your loved one was laid to rest. Inside the coffin is a bed of moss, rather than fabric or plastic, which helps the process along without poisoning the soil.

It is admittedly a novel concept that could unsettle some folks, but it is also a simple yet effective way to make sure that we leave behind a good legacy, no matter how we have lived our life. One of the things that people are advised to do in order to live forever is to plant a tree, but few of us are able to do so during our lifetime. The Living Coffin ensures that we’d still be able to do that after our death and could even have a tree to our own name.

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This biodegradable children’s building block game is made entirely from recycled rice husks

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Rice Husk Village is a modular toy game made entirely from discarded rice husk waste.

On a yearly basis, around 120 million tons of rice husks are discarded worldwide. The husk is the plant material that covers rice grains, which is ultimately discarded because humans do not digest it. highly resistant to natural degradation, rice husk has a large dry volume due to their low-bulk density and rough surfaces.

Designer: Subin Cho

Looking at this issue from an environmentalist’s perspective, designer, Subin Cho conceptualized a children’s toy called Rice Husk Village made entirely from rice husk to turn agricultural waste into meaningful products that can ultimately be composted back into the ground.

Cho notes, “Rice husk has large dry volume due to its low bulk density and possesses rough and abrasive surfaces that are highly resistant to natural degradation.” From an environmental perspective, this reveals why rice husks can be difficult to dispose of, but from a designer’s perspective, this plant material is ideal for creating products like the Rice Husk Village.

Constructed and molded from rice husks, the Rice Husk Village is comprised of shaped modules that stack together to form villages. Three different building types allow users to create different city fabrics, from skyscraper-filled skylines to small villages. A four-legged bridge, tree modules, and stairs also come with Rice Husk Village so users can really create their own unique toy village.

Cho’s design also features a balance tray that users can build their villages atop as an interactive game. The game’s initiative is to create a well-balanced, and bustling village fabric from the toys blocks made from rice husks.

If the village topples over to one side on the balance tray, then whoever touched the last block loses, in a similar fashion to the game Jenga. Considering the rice husk modules, the toy blocks are biodegradable and safe for the human body to consume on the off chance your toddler is getting a little chewy.

Children can even add a touch of greenery to their miniature village replicas. 

Once play time is over, the building blocks can be put back into the earth to be composted. 

Similar to the game of Jenga, Rice Husk Village is a stacking game. 

Children will have an array of different modular toy blocks to choose from when constructing their village.

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This collection of everyday items is 3D printed from disused wheat bran to create zero waste

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Greenfill3d is a Polish home goods and furniture company that uses wheat bran waste to 3D print home goods items like storage compartments and advertising racks.

One of the easiest ways we can reduce our personal carbon footprint is by taking a look at the build of items we use on a daily basis. A closer look reveals that many of the products we surround ourselves with are made from materials that aren’t so great for the landfill. Designed for obsolescence, most of these plastic-based products end up in landfills where they might remain for years to come.

Hoping to change the way we consume home goods and everyday products, the Polish company Greenfill3d produces items that are made from biodegradable or bio-compostable materials in accordance with the ideas of zero-waste and the circular economy.

Designer: Greenfill3d

Each item that comprises Greenfill3d’s home goods collection is composed of multiple parts that are 3D-printed individually. The advertising stand, for instance, consists of 34 individual elements, each of which are 3D-printed separately and then pieced together for an easy assembly.

Each product from Greenfill3d’s collection is made from one of three sustainable materials: GF3D Branfill3d (wheat bran material), BioWOOD (wood powdered material), and BioCREATE (compostable material). In collaboration with one of Europe’s largest food producers, Greenfill3d collects wheat bran waste from pasta.

From there, the waste is measured for production before it’s combined with polylactic acid (PLA) to develop a filament used in 3D printing. This mixture of PLA and wheat bran waste, what Greenfill3d calls GF3D, is then fed into 40 3D printers to create everyday items like storage cabinets and advertising racks.

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This wall-mountable piece of cat furniture saves space through its multifunctional design

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Cassle is a multifunctional piece of furniture designed for cats to have their own private retreat without taking up too much floor space.

Keeping cats entertained in small spaces is quite the challenge. Tiny living quarters, like studio apartments and micro-homes, make sharing space with cats feel like a game of Tetris. It’s all a matter of finding the right toys, litter boxes, and furniture to keep your cat happy, without taking over the entirety of your living area. Cassle, a multifunctional piece of furniture designed for cats by Soo Bin Cho, makes the most of your available floor and wall space to keep your cat happy and your apartment clutter-free.

Designer: Soo Bin Cho

Cassle keeps two forms–the first is a pyramid-like structure that remains on the floor and the second is a wall piece that mounts onto any vertical surface. Cassle’s first form provides a type of hideout for cats. Defined by its triangular shape, Cassle’s first form finds the furniture piece’s cardboard beams connected by 3D-printed PLA joints to form a pyramid. Biodegradable, industrial wool felt coverings drape over the pyramid to conceal the interior, providing a dark space for cats to rest.

The pyramid then unfolds to reveal Cassle’s second form–a wall-mountable lookout perch for cats to enjoy following their midafternoon nap. Cats find sills in the cardboard beams where they can sit or lie down while playing with the integrated polyethylene ball knot joint that functions as the furniture piece’s nose-work toy for cats. In designing Cassle, Cho hoped to create an unconventional spin on traditional cat furniture, amounting to a piece that saves space and is multifunctional.

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