Lotte E&C Just Turned 5 Eggs Into the Welcome Gift You’ll Use

There’s something refreshing about a company that doesn’t just slap their logo on a tote bag and call it customer appreciation. SWNA Office’s Earth’s Hatch kit for Lotte E&C proves that welcome gifts can be more than forgettable tchotchkes collecting dust in a drawer. This is design that actually thinks about the person receiving it, and what they might genuinely need in their daily life.

The kit arrives in a birdhouse-shaped package made from pulp paper, the kind that feels substantial in your hands. Strip away the paper band, and inside you’ll find five egg-shaped magnetic objects nestled in protective pulp packaging. The whole experience feels deliberate, like opening something that was designed to be opened, not just shipped.

Designer: SWNA Office

But here’s where it gets interesting. Those five eggs aren’t just decorative items you’ll stash away and forget. Each one serves a specific purpose at the threshold of your home, that chaotic zone where packages pile up and keys mysteriously vanish. One egg contains a ceramic-blade box cutter for safely slicing through Amazon deliveries. Others function as magnetic hooks and holders, perfect for hanging access cards, food waste sorting tags, car keys, or that shoehorn you’re always hunting for when you’re already late.

The egg shape itself is surprisingly smart from a user experience perspective. It’s soft and rounded, fitting comfortably in your palm. The scale feels just right, not so small that it’s fiddly, but not so large that it dominates your door. There’s a gentle familiarity to holding an egg, even one made from recycled plastic. It’s a form we all understand instinctively.

The birdhouse package transforms into a refillable tissue holder after you’ve unpacked everything. The circular opening on the side isn’t just aesthetic; it’s functional, letting you see at a glance when you’re running low. Made from vegan leather, it brings a soft contrast to the stone-like texture of the eggs. The eagle motif threading through both the eggs and the “nest” creates visual continuity that feels intentional rather than gimmicky.

What makes this project worth paying attention to is how it handles sustainability without being preachy. Sure, the eggs are made from recycled plastic and the case uses vegan leather, but the kit doesn’t stop at material choices. It’s designed to make eco-friendly living more manageable. That box cutter with the ceramic blade helps you break down boxes properly for recycling. The sorting tools encourage proper waste management. The kit isn’t just made sustainably; it helps you live more sustainably.

This is where corporate gifting usually fails. Most welcome packages are essentially branded advertising that recipients tolerate. Earth’s Hatch flips that script by centering utility. The magnetic feature is particularly clever because it solves a real problem. How many times have you frantically searched for your keys or access card? Now they have a dedicated spot right by your door, held by these smooth, tactile objects that are actually pleasant to interact with daily.

The name itself, Earth’s Hatch, captures what Lotte E&C seems to be going for with their “safe planet project.” It’s about emergence, about something new coming into being. The eagle egg symbolism reinforces that idea of potential and care. Eagles are protective of their eggs, just as we should be protective of the planet. It’s a bit poetic for a construction company, but that’s precisely what makes it memorable.

SWNA Office managed to create something that works on multiple levels. At first glance, it’s a beautiful object with its muted, speckled surface that photographs gorgeously in that minimalist product photography style we’ve all become accustomed to. But it doesn’t rely solely on aesthetics. The design holds up in actual use, which is rarer than it should be.

What this project really demonstrates is that thoughtful design can elevate even something as mundane as organizational tools and tissue holders. By connecting form, function, and meaning, Earth’s Hatch becomes more than a welcome kit. It’s a physical manifestation of a company’s values, something recipients will actually use and remember. That’s the kind of design that deserves attention.

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This Tea Brand Just Turned Packaging Into a Playful Puzzle

There’s something oddly satisfying about counting things. Maybe it’s the same reason people find numbered lists so appealing, or why we instinctively organize our world into sequences. By-Enjoy Design seems to understand this perfectly with their OneToTea packaging for CHASHAN’s white tea pearls, turning what could have been just another tea box into something that feels almost like a playful puzzle.

The concept is beautifully simple. Six white tea pearls, six numbers, one hexagonal tube. Each face of the package displays both a Chinese character and its corresponding Arabic numeral, from one through six. It’s the kind of design that makes you wonder why nobody thought of it sooner, which is usually the hallmark of really smart packaging.

Designer: By-Enjoy Design

What strikes me first is the restraint. The color palette is strictly monochrome, with black graphics on a pristine white background. No gradients, no metallic finishes, no desperate attempts to scream luxury through gold foiling or embossing. Instead, the design whispers sophistication through its geometric precision and typographic clarity. The circles containing each number create a rhythmic pattern down the length of the tube, making something as straightforward as counting feel deliberately composed.

But here’s where it gets interesting. The packaging doesn’t just look good sitting on a shelf. According to the designers, a gentle shake brings the whole thing to life, making it playful and dynamic. Imagine holding this tube and feeling those tea pearls shift inside, each one rolling to match its designated number. It transforms a static object into something tactile and interactive, which is pretty rare in the tea world where most packaging is designed to sit pretty and do nothing else.

The bilingual approach serves multiple purposes beyond just translation. The Chinese characters carry cultural weight and authenticity, grounding the product in tea’s traditional origins. The Arabic numerals provide universal accessibility, ensuring anyone can engage with the numbering system regardless of language. This dual identity feels especially relevant for contemporary Asian brands trying to speak to both local and global audiences without losing their cultural identity in the process.

Each tea pearl comes individually wrapped, and naturally, it bears the same number as its spot on the tube. This kind of consistency creates a complete experience rather than just packaging. You’re not randomly grabbing a tea pearl. You’re selecting number three, or saving number six for later. It gamifies the consumption process in a subtle way, adding a layer of intentionality to your tea ritual.

The hexagonal form itself deserves attention. It’s not the easiest shape to manufacture or ship, but it offers six equal faces for that perfect one-to-six display. It also stacks and arranges beautifully, as shown in the images where multiple tubes create their own geometric compositions. From a retail perspective, these tubes photograph incredibly well, which matters immensely in our Instagram-driven market where packaging needs to perform on screens as much as on shelves.

What really works here is how the design manages to be both minimal and maximal at once. Minimal in its aesthetic choices, with that stark black and white palette and clean typography. But maximal in its thoughtfulness, with every element serving both function and form. The numbers aren’t just decorative. They’re an organizational system, a design motif, a playful interaction, and a cultural bridge all at once.

This kind of packaging also taps into something collectors understand well. When design is this cohesive and clever, you don’t want to throw the box away. That tube becomes an object worth keeping, maybe for storing other small treasures or just displaying because it looks that good. It’s the opposite of disposable packaging, and that sustainability angle (even if unintentional) resonates with contemporary values around consumption and waste.

By-Enjoy Design has created something that works on multiple levels. It’s functional enough for everyday use, beautiful enough for gift-giving, clever enough to spark conversation, and simple enough that its brilliance doesn’t require explanation. Sometimes the best design solutions are the ones that make you smile because they just make sense.

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This Lighthouse Calendar Turns Your Desk Into a Coastal Escape

There’s something wonderfully audacious about a desk calendar that refuses to be just a desk calendar. Cillgold Agency’s “By the Lighthouse” for 2026 is exactly that kind of design rebel. Instead of being a forgettable square of paper you flip through mindlessly, it’s a miniature architectural statement that happens to tell you what day it is.

The piece stands tall on your desk like a proud beacon, mimicking the silhouette of an actual lighthouse with surprising accuracy. The structure tapers as it rises, supported by angular legs that give it a sense of purpose and stability. This isn’t some flimsy cardboard that’ll topple over when someone walks by too quickly. The design feels deliberate, substantial, like it’s actually guiding you through the year ahead.

Designer: Cillgold Agency

What really catches your eye is the material choice. The entire exterior is wrapped in this gorgeous deep green marbled paper with veins of gold running through it like captured lightning. It’s the kind of surface that makes you want to reach out and touch it, to trace those organic patterns with your fingertips. The marbling has a luxurious, almost geological quality, as if each calendar was carved from a block of precious stone rather than assembled from paper and cardboard.

Then there’s that pop of coral orange along the edges. It’s unexpected and bold, creating this beautiful contrast against the moody green. The orange trim follows the contours of the structure, outlining the lighthouse shape and drawing your eye upward. It’s a small detail that completely transforms the piece, adding warmth and energy to what could have been a somber color palette.

Near the top of the structure, there’s a rectangular cutout that reveals a row of white seagulls in flight, set against a ribbed green background. This little window is pure charm. It’s like peering through a lens into a coastal scene, a reminder of the lighthouse’s maritime purpose. The birds are simplified, almost pixelated in their rendering, which gives them a playful, graphic quality that bridges vintage and contemporary design sensibilities.

The actual calendar component sits in the lower portion of the structure, displaying date cards that feature their own coastal imagery. Each card shows serene beach scenes, lighthouses in the distance, palm trees swaying in ocean breezes. The photography has that dreamy, gradient quality that makes you want to book a seaside vacation immediately. Flipping through the days becomes a small daily ritual, revealing new vistas as the year unfolds.

What Cillgold Agency has really accomplished here is creating an object that lives in multiple categories at once. Yes, it’s functional. You can absolutely use it to track dates and plan your schedule. But it’s also decorative, sculptural, collectible. It’s the kind of thing that sparks conversations when people enter your workspace. “What is that?” they’ll ask, and you’ll get to explain that it’s a calendar, watching their faces light up with surprise and delight.

The design speaks to a larger trend in stationery and desk accessories where form and function merge into something more meaningful. We’re moving away from purely utilitarian objects and embracing pieces that bring joy, personality, and artistry to our everyday environments. Our workspaces shouldn’t be sterile or boring. They should reflect who we are and what we value.

From a collector’s perspective, this is absolutely a keeper. Once the year ends, you don’t toss it in the recycling bin. You might repurpose it, display it on a shelf, or store it carefully as an example of excellent paper craft and product design. Limited edition calendars like this often appreciate in value among design enthusiasts, but more importantly, they become personal artifacts, markers of a particular year and aesthetic moment.

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Heinz Dipper Finally Gives Fries Their Own Little Ketchup Pocket

Eating fries away from a table means improvising a ketchup situation that usually goes wrong. Packets balance on dashboards, sauce gets smeared onto napkins, or you squeeze tiny dollops directly onto individual fries like you are frosting cupcakes. It is ridiculous that we perfected crinkle cuts and waffle fries but still treat the ketchup part like an afterthought whenever we leave the safety of a tray.

Heinz Dipper is what happens when someone finally looks at a fry box and asks, “What if this thing helped?” It is a patent-pending container with a built-in condiment compartment on the front, engineered for dipping on the go. The box holds fries like usual, but also carries a small pool of ketchup or mayo right where your thumb expects it to be.

Designer: Heinz

Picture a drive-thru run or a couch session. Instead of tearing packets and hunting for a flat surface, you grab the Dipper with one hand, dip with the other, and never wonder where the ketchup went. The fry box becomes a self-contained meal kit, making it harder to justify those ketchup stains on jeans, car seats, or suspiciously sticky armrests that no one wants to talk about.

The design is basically a standard fry box with a foldable pocket on the front acting as a condiment well. That small structural change stabilizes the sauce, keeps it from sliding around, and puts it within the same footprint as the fries. No extra cups, no balancing acts, just a single object that understands fries and ketchup are a package deal, not two separate quests requiring three hands.

Heinz leans into its keystone icon here, turning the familiar label shape into both branding and a visual cue that says “dip here.” It is packaging as an interface, not just decoration. The Dipper teaches you how to use it without instructions, which is what good packaging should do when your other hand is busy steering, cheering, or trying to find the napkins you forgot to grab.

The brand cites research showing that most people have spilled ketchup while dipping on the go, and many have considered skipping sauce entirely because the packaging is so annoying. Those numbers validate that this is not a niche complaint; it is a shared embarrassment. The Dipper’s simple structure is less about reinventing fries and more about admitting we have been eating them awkwardly for years.

Heinz Dipper will not save the world, but it might save a few car interiors and shirts. It is a reminder that thoughtful design can live in cardboard geometry as much as in expensive gadgets, and that sometimes the most satisfying innovations are the ones that fix a tiny, greasy annoyance you did not realize everyone else was quietly suffering through as well.

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Nuon Medical: Why the Future of Skincare Isn’t Another Serum

The beauty industry has spent decades perfecting what goes inside the bottle. Formulas have become more sophisticated, actives more potent, ingredient lists more transparent. Yet the objects that deliver those formulas have stayed mostly the same. Glass jars, plastic tubes, pump bottles, they’re passive containers designed to hold product, not enhance it. Meanwhile, beauty gadgets promised professional results at home but ended up in drawers, forgotten.

The real opportunity isn’t another breakthrough ingredient or another device. It’s that split second where formula actually meets skin. That’s the insight behind Nuon Medical, a company founded by Alain Dijkstra with roots in medical devices rather than traditional cosmetics. While everyone else obsessed over formulas, Nuon started looking at the packaging itself. We interview Senior Consultant Benny Calderone to get deeper insights into the company’s origins and perspectives.

Designer: Nuon Medical

From Chemical to Physical Innovation

According to Nuon Medical, “For decades, the beauty industry focused on ‘Chemical Innovation’—the juice inside the bottle. Nuon is pioneering the era of ‘Physical Innovation.’ In short: we are solving the ‘Last Inch’ of skincare.” It’s a shift that treats packaging as a performance-critical interface, one that determines whether those actives reach their biological targets or just sit on your skin doing nothing.

Nuon’s journey started with standalone light therapy devices used for hair growth and wrinkle reduction. After nearly two decades making those tools, founder Alain Dijkstra noticed they had a retention problem. They added steps to already crowded routines and mostly ended up unused. For clinical tech to work at scale, it had to disappear into something people already do every day.

By embedding tech into packaging, Nuon eliminated the compliance gap. “We realized that for clinical tech to scale, it must be invisible. By turning the packaging itself into the ‘treatment engine,’ we eliminate the compliance gap.” You’re not being asked to do something new. You’re just upgrading what you already do. From a business angle, this transforms a throwaway bottle into something worth keeping.

Frictionless Intelligence at the Point of Contact

Nuon doesn’t start with sketches or aesthetics. They start with human-factor engineering, figuring out how an applicator should guide contact, path, and speed to deliver the formula correctly every time. The result is what they call frictionless intelligence. “We design for ‘frictionless intelligence.’ If a user has to read a manual, the design has failed,” the company states.

Intelligence gets built into the haptics, the ergonomics, the physical interaction logic itself. The tool quietly guides your motion without you realizing it. The applicator steers where you press, how fast you move, the path you follow, all without instructions. Light therapy, microcurrent, thermal elements, vibration, they’re woven into the interaction, supporting the formula instead of distracting from it.

There’s a tricky balance here. Clinical devices can feel intimidating. Beauty objects need to feel inviting, something you want to pick up every morning. Nuon often prioritizes consistency over intensity. “A tool used daily with proper motion and interaction is far more effective than a high-intensity device left in a drawer,” they note. A lower setting used correctly beats a powerful tool that stays in the drawer.

The Hidden Operating System of Beauty

Nuon isn’t a consumer brand. They’re a B2B partner working behind the scenes with global beauty companies. Their modular tech stack works like an operating system, offering a validated foundation that brands dress up with their own materials. Luxury labels use glass and heavy metals. Mass brands use lighter plastics. The intelligence underneath stays the same.

“Nuon is the ‘Innovation Engine’ behind the world’s leading brands. Our philosophy lives in the UX Framework, not the visual skin,” Calderone explains. Brands can apply their aesthetic identity without messing with the validated technology underneath. “We provide the ‘Intelligence’; they provide the ‘Identity,'” he adds. It’s systems thinking applied to beauty packaging.

Data, Sustainability, and the Death of the Dumb Bottle

Once packaging gets smarter, it starts collecting data. Nuon’s applicators can measure skin hydration, texture, UV exposure, and more. But the company is deliberate about how that information gets used. “Data should be a concierge, not a surveillance tool,” according to their philosophy. Diagnostics should inform care, not flood you with vanity metrics. Nuon provides privacy-by-design infrastructure where consumers stay in control.

Then there’s sustainability, where Nuon takes a blunt stance. “Sustainability only scales if it improves the user experience. ‘Green theater’ is asking consumers to settle for less; True sustainability is ‘Assetization,'” the company states. They design the high-tech applicator as something durable that you want to keep. The formula becomes a refill that plugs into that base, separating Durable Intelligence from the Circular Consumable.

It’s not sustainability through guilt. It’s sustainable because the design makes refills the logical choice. You’ve invested in the smart hardware, so of course you’re going to buy the refill. Nuon’s vision is bold. “We are witnessing the death of the ‘dumb bottle.’ In a decade, a passive plastic cap will feel as obsolete as a rotary phone.”

Packaging will become responsive tools that sense conditions and guide your hand in one motion. “Scalp and hair care is the next great ‘blue ocean.’ It’s a category where wellness meets clinical results, and users can immediately feel the benefits of microcirculation and stimulation,” Nuon notes. The broader idea is that everyday objects on bathroom shelves are about to become quietly intelligent without looking like sci-fi props.

Companies like Nuon are writing that next chapter from behind the scenes, proving that clinically meaningful technology doesn’t need to sacrifice what makes beauty objects appealing. It’s a shift from containers to interfaces, from passive to active. If Nuon’s right, we’ll look back at today’s plain bottles the way we look at rotary phones, functional once but hopelessly outdated now.

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This Australian Soy Fish Decomposes in 6 Weeks, Not 400 Years

As someone who can demolish a sushi platter in minutes, I’ve always felt a pang of guilt watching those tiny plastic fish pile up on my plate. Sustainable design studio Heliograf clearly felt the same way. After five years of development, they’ve launched Holy Carp!, the world’s first home compostable soy sauce dropper that doesn’t make you choose between convenience and conscience.

The Australian team initially drew attention to this plastic problem through their brilliant Light Soy lamps made from recycled ocean-bound plastic. But they didn’t stop there. With South Australia banning those beloved little fish and other states following suit, Heliograf knew they had to create something that worked just as well. Consider this: since 1950, we’ve used between 8 and 12 billion soy fish. Each one serves us for maybe three minutes before hanging around for centuries.

Designer: Heliograf

Bagasse Pulp Meets Familiar Function

Here’s where it gets clever. Holy Carp! droppers are made from bagasse pulp—basically sugarcane waste that would otherwise be thrown away. The genius part is that these decompose in your compost bin within 4-6 weeks, not 400 years. Plus, restaurants fill them fresh instead of getting pre-filled plastic ones shipped from who-knows-where, meaning fresher soy sauce for your salmon rolls.

Working with Vert Design and actual sushi restaurants (people who understand the stakes), Heliograf kept that perfect fish shape we all love while fixing the obvious problems. The 12mL container is deliberately bigger than those frustratingly tiny plastic ones because, let’s be honest, who hasn’t grabbed three or four at once? The designers watched people do exactly that, creating even more waste.

Plant Pulp Expertise Meets Ocean Impact

What I love about this story is how Heliograf used knowledge from their existing lamp packaging to crack this problem. Sometimes the best solutions come from your own backyard—literally, in this case, since their lamps already use plastic-free packaging. The droppers hold soy sauce safely for 48 hours and won’t leak all over your takeaway bag.

“It’s a small change, but we truly believe every drop matters,” says co-founder Angus Ware. “We wanted to show that we can still create moments of joy when being sustainable.” Since 2020, their cleanup efforts have removed over 32 tonnes of plastic—equivalent to 32 million soy fish.

Available Soon for Early Adopters

The numbers are staggering: 40% of plastic waste comes from packaging, with nearly 855 billion single-use sachets used annually. For those of us who can’t imagine sushi without that perfect little fish, Holy Carp! offers guilt-free indulgence. Restaurants can register at heliograf.com/holycarp for early access. Finally, we can enjoy our California rolls without contributing to microplastic soup in our oceans.

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Sip Sustainably With This Eco-Friendly Paper Pulp Briefcase That Keeps Your Drink Hot Or Cold!

For coffee lovers who savor a steaming hot cup of joe, there’s often a dilemma when it comes to ordering beverages to go. The drinks tend to cool down by the time they arrive, dampening the experience. Fortunately, Nos Design Consultancy has developed a groundbreaking solution with its innovative compostable paper pulp briefcase, a sustainable and practical way to transport hot and cold drinks, keeping them secure and temperature-stable.

Designer: NOS Design consultancy

Made from paper pulp, a material with eco-friendly potential due to its recyclability and abundance, the briefcase addresses the growing issue of packaging waste. With the paper industry producing large amounts of byproducts, it could be feasible that this packaging could be created from repurposed paper waste, making it an ideal fit for both sustainability and practical use, however, it’s a great starting point.

A key feature of the Nos briefcase is its stackable design, which optimizes transportation efficiency. By taking up less space, more items can be transported at once, cutting down on fuel usage and reducing the environmental impact of deliveries. The clamshell structure not only saves space in delivery bags but also ensures drinks are snugly secured to prevent spills, a significant improvement over traditional cup carriers.

The packaging is designed to accommodate the three standard to-go sizes familiar to most customers, Tall, Grande, and Venti (as per the Starbucks’ language), with grooves that allow lids to slide in and stay in place. This flexibility makes it adaptable to most orders, eliminating concerns over mismatched cup sizes. The interior design hugs each drink, keeping it stable and reducing the risk of spillage during transit.

Beyond its stackability and spill-proof features, the briefcase boasts an additional advantage of reusability. This significantly reduces the demand for single-use containers, slashing costs and curbing the environmental toll of short-lived packaging. When its lifespan comes to an end, the briefcase can either be composted or recycled, completing a full circle of eco-conscious use.

Nos Design has clearly recognized the exponential growth in food and beverage deliveries in recent years, along with the accompanying surge in packaging waste. By conducting internal research and exploring sustainable options, they’ve created a packaging solution that’s not only easy to manufacture but also adaptable for global delivery companies. The design stacks perfectly, making it simple for baristas and couriers alike to load up drinks, seal the briefcase, and ship them off with minimal hassle.

With ergonomic handles and spaces for order details and quality seals, the paper pulp briefcase offers a seamless user experience. It’s versatile enough to be tailored to different brands through customizable color options, creating a unique, eco-friendly delivery system for businesses aiming to reduce their carbon footprint.

An added benefit is the material’s natural insulating properties, which help retain the temperature of beverages and food for longer. Whether it’s a piping hot latte or an ice-cold smoothie, the briefcase ensures that customers receive their orders as fresh as possible.

In a world where environmental consciousness is more important than ever, the Nos paper pulp briefcase provides a timely and effective solution. This compact, lightweight packaging represents a leap forward in how we think about delivery, offering a cost-effective, sustainable, and user-friendly option for couriers and businesses alike.

By incorporating eco-friendly materials and innovative design, Nos has not only created a functional product but also positioned itself as a leader in the movement toward more sustainable packaging solutions. For companies looking to attract environmentally conscious customers, this briefcase offers a practical, modern, and responsible way to do so.

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Pizza Hut brings you a Moving Box Table for your pizza break

As someone who has moved houses a lot, I can attest that the food of choice during breaks is pizza. You don’t need any utensils to eat it and oftentimes, you end up just plopping the box on any surface as you partake of a delicious slice and chat with your friends who are helping you move. It’s not the most sanitary of course since there’s probably a lot of dust and dirt lying around on the floor.

Designer: Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut is offering a quick and simple solution for this problem, especially during this time when a lot of people are apparently moving in the U.S. The Moving Box Table is a simple to assemble miniature cardboard table that you can use to place your box of pizza on as you snack. This limited-edition box is perfect for peak moving time so that you can enjoy your slice while not thinking about being sanitary.

The Moving Box Table has a corrugated structure that folds into a base or mini table that is sturdy enough to hold your pizza box. It has of course the iconic red checkered design of Pizza Hut. Setting it up is pretty easy as you just have to unfold and assemble and you’re good to go. It doesn’t really say if you can re-use it, but most probably you can, unless you get all kinds of sauces and toppings on it while eating.

This comes for free if you order a large menu-priced pizza but is exclusive to the cities of Dallas, Charlotte, and Orlando. This is apparently three of the most popular U.S cities to move to especially during this time.

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Microalgae packaging becomes biostimulant after use

Most people (at least those who are thoughtful and aware enough) are now pretty conscious about how we consume things and where all our waste goes. This also means there is no shortage of product designers who have been experimenting on how to recycle and upcycle materials and products that reach end of life. Product waste is something we also need to think about since this will forever be part of human development.

Designer: Laura Bordini

By Osmosis is a project by Laura Bordini that explores how to use product waste and turn it into a biomaterial that can serve a different purpose and then eventually be used to help grow plants, creating a circular process. She used microalgae biomass that came out of the water purification process of a waste disposal center in Lindlar, Germany. Out of that, she was able to create agricultural biostimulants. The microalgae biomaterial can be turned into things like packaging before turning them into stimulants to promote plant growth and create better soil quality.

One of the packaging that she was able to create is a flower holder made from microalgae and wood powder. Since flowers have an end date as well, the packaging can them be repurposed as biostimulant if you’ll not be using it anymore. Another item she was able to create was seed containers, which again, is pretty apt for this circular process of ecological regeneration. We can also see plantable cards with messages like “Nice to seed you” and it’s made up of seeds and microalgae.

Algae is not a major material that product designers think of but with this experiment, she’s hoping that creators can see it as a future material for their products. It’s materials like these as well as the process to extract and create them that make the ecological regeneration a reality and hopefully, eventually become the norm.

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Craste uses crop residue to create tree-free packaging

As someone who manages ecommerce stores and is also a frequent consumer of products from various online stores, I see a lot of waste when it comes to packaging. There are a lot of single-use plastics lying around our office and my house that I often feel guilty about contributing to all that waste. While we still try to re-use what we can, I do hope that there will be better packaging solutions that can be adapted by the general public.

Designer: Craste

Craste is a company based in India that is the country’s first 100% tree-free packaging solution. Since the country produces 500 million tonnes of crop residue every year which contributes to 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere, they thought of using crop waste to create eco-friendly packaging. They collected crop residue from the farmers and then convert it to tree-free pulp through a circular fiber technology (whose patent is still pending). This process uses less water consumption and Zero Level Discharge from the unit.

The pulp is then turned to high-quality paper that can be used for different kinds of packaging like boxes, paper bags, envelopes, etc. The packaging created is also food-grade so it’s safe for food products. It is also strong but flexible that it can retain the form and shape of the packaging it is turned into. They also aim to create “highly durable, environmentally friendly, cost-effective, wood-equivalent crop residue derived straw panel board with a formaldehyde-free adhesive”.

One issue with alternative packaging of course is the cost. Things like single-use plastic, bubble wrap, and the likes are pretty cheap and the more eco-friendly options are more expensive. Hopefully if companies like Craste can create more sustainable packaging for brands, we’ll be able to have better packaging consumption in the next few years.

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