sarahnairn3

[sarahnairn3]

My final contextual images of my bio-plastic material

[sarahnairn3]

My final presentation.

[sarahnairn3]

MYX

The lamps consist of plant fibre and mushroom-mycelium. The lamp is grown into shape during a period of 2-3 weeks, where the mushroom mycelium grows together the plant fibres into a flexible and soft living textile. After 2 weeks you can harvest the healthy Oyster mushrooms. The waste product ‘shaped as a lamp’ can then be dried and used as a lightweight material, that is both organic, compostable and sustainable.

The mushroom mycelium stabilizes the construction by physically growing together the material behaving as a glue between the fibres. The MYX consists of waste – the mushroom organism comes from a commercial mushroom farm and the plant fibres is a leftover material from the textile industry, MYX is a optimized end-waste product with a nutritious food product during the growing cycle.

I realize I have talked a lot about mushroom-mycelium but Jonas Edvard is one of my main sources of inspiration for this project. You can see how he has manipulated something which is so delicate into something functional as a product and it looks absolutely amazing.

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I am considering weather or not to use both materials for my final form. I’m not sure that they would compliment each other very well, I will do some test photography and sketch modeling first.

Above are some sketch models I did of possible forms, I really liked the way the fennel looks like it has grown upwards like a flower.

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After two days of drying at room temperature on trays at three different thicknesses I decided the material was ready to start shaping.

My first thoughts about this material is how interesting the patterns created from the chopped fennel leaf look. I decided after two days the wrap the thinner piece of material around an old oil bottle to see what shapes it might dry in, you can see the outcome in the first image. The texture of this piece was like a think plastic, it had some bend to it so I was able to remove it from around the bottle but some parts did crack and break.

In the very top picture above you can see the thickest piece, this one is not completely dry yet and is very squishy and flexible, you can pull it and it will not rip. I think this is my most successful piece from this material.

When reflecting on my design criteria against this material as a viable design material, I do think this was more successful in its outcome then my first experiment because of the flexibility it has. It sits almost the same in regards to my design criteria, I think that this is something that is accessible to people to make themselves (and grow) at home, it is very simple to understand and relies on minimum external factors and is made of few or little parts. It also reduces and avoids the depletion of resources in an honest and cost effective way (its free!).

Like my first experiment this material is completely eatable and made from only food.

When reflecting on my design plan for a lamp I’m starting to reconsider that now that I consider the different textures I have. I will do some different combinations of photos and chose form them the one that best represents my material. Thinking about how it could be used to wrap sandwiches.

[sarahnairn3]

I have decided to create a lamp from my bio-plastic, I believe it will be able to represent the material in the best way that I want it to. 

I found some examples of bio-plastic made from alge which I thought were fantastic. At the very top there are some lamps made by a company called Neastudio which create a versatile product from the algae shades by grouping them in different ways to form chandeliers; they can also function on their own as table lamps or sconces. The algae lights can be custom made in a variety of shapes and finishes, including brass, according to individual preference. These algae lamps are molded into translucent cylindrical lamp shades that glow from the interior, which is the direction I am choosing for the design of my lamp.

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After 3 hours of slow heating I decided to take the banana material out, In the inside the material looks wet when it isn't. I used a knife to gently push the sides of the material away from the baking bowl.

My first thoughts about this material is the very earthy or dirt like texture, I purposely left larger chunks of the banana peel in the material to add texture. The feel of the material is that it looks dry and crumbly but it is actually slightly flexible and sticky. You can see the pieces of thyme clearly in the material.

I am reasonably happy with the turn out of this material. if I was to make it again I might lay it flat on baking paper because I realize my use of the baking bowl changed how it dried and how thick the edges were.

This would make a fantastic planter, completely biodegradable, made from waste product and even eatable!

When reflecting on my design criteria against this material as a viable design material, I think that this is most defiantly something that is accessible to people to make themselves at home, it is very simple to understand and relies on minimum external factors and is made of few or little parts. it also reduces and avoid the depletion of resources in an honest and cost effective way. The main issue is the durability, it is to brittle to be used for storage but that could be a plus if you wanted to use it for potting plants.

The material covers mostly all my design criteria but because of how endurable it is, it may not be the best material to be used instead of plastic storage in your home although you could fins other uses for it.

[sarahnairn3]

My Design criteria.

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- Something that is accessible

- Simple to understand

- Simple in aesthetics

- Effective and efficient in fulfilling its purpose

- Relies on minimum external factors

- Reduces or avoids the depletion of resources

- Durable

- Cost-effective

- Honest

- Innovative

- Few or little parts

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[sarahnairn3]

This is a completely recycled material made out of fennel scraps. This compound is ecofriendly, completely biodegradable and realized with common and natural materials.

[sarahnairn3]

For my second experiment with making a bio-plastic I followed a youtube video for a method, I will link this above, though I added and extra ingredient of my own and changed another.

What I used:

-Fennel

-Corn starch

-Lemon juice

-Apple cider vinegar

-Sugar

-Arrowroot

-Water

What I did:

For this experiment I used fresh fennel grown from my garden.  

I began by cutting the fennel up into small pieces and placing them into a food processor.

In a measuring cup I mixed 336ml of water with 64 grams of corn starch (I decided to used corn starch instead of potato starch).

I then in a separate cup mixed 44ml of lemon juice with 10ml of apple cider vinegar ( I did not have any white wine vinegar so used cider instead). I then blitzed up the fennel in the processor and added the lemon, cider mixture and blended for a few second further. 

I then poured the fennel mixture into a pot and put it onto a high heat, I slowly began adding the corn starch in water mixture and 14 grams of white sugar while stirring, I decided to make the texture of the mixture thicker so I added one tablespoon of arrowroot which is a natural thickener I use in cooking, this immediately thickened the mixture into a fun gooey texture. 

I then spooned some mixture into three separate trays at different thicknesses and used a rolling pin to flatten it the material out into a thinner thickness. I am not sure of the drying time for these which is why I did three different ones. 

I am leaving them in a warm spare room to dry for two days. 

I will update once the material has dried.

[sarahnairn3]

Experimentation on bioplastics using banana peels as source of starch. Homemade recipe. This test aims to investigate on the properties of the banana peels and aim to recover waste with creativity. Plastics, bioplastics and biocomposites, industrially manufactured, are something different from the sample proposed in this video.

[sarahnairn3]

For my first experiment with making a bio-plastic I followed a youtube video for a method, I will link this above.

What I used: 

-Banana peel  

-Water

-Honey

-Thyme

-Cinnamon

What I did: 

I had already kept all the banana peels that were left over from the household before doing the experiment. 

I began by cutting the banana peels up into small squares and placing them into a mixing container. I used about 7 banana peels with the rough ends cut off.

Next I blended the peels and added 350ml of water and stirred that through, I then added this to a pot and boiled the mixture of water and peels on high for 15 minutes till alot of the moisture had evaporated. 

I then poured this back into the mixing container and added another 350ml of cold water and stirred it through. Next I poured this watery thick liquid into a strainer over a bowl and began to push all the excess water though the peels. Lastly I added a tablespoon of honey, thyme and cinnamon into the previously used pot and mixed through the strained peel pulp into this on a high heat.

Once it was at the desired thick consistency I push it into a bake safe dish and put it on to bake for 2hours on 100 degrees.

I will update once the material is ready in hope that it worked!

[sarahnairn3]

The innovative material developed by Kaffeeform is composed of used coffee grounds and other renewable resources. Thanks to its unique properties, Kaffeeform products are exceptionally durable and robust, but still very light. The marbled surface that resembles wood and the mild coffee aroma perfectly complete the design.

Beginning to explore what food waste I can use to make my new biodegradable material and what objects I might make with it.

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Concept interpretation of the maximum in relation to my interpretation of the minimum. The maximum impact of being able to make your own food packaging fro your waste food to the environment in a beneficial way by using minimum time and resources.

My interpretation of the “maximum”

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The design opportunity I am interested in is biodegradable packaging. The minimum for me is the reuse of waste food from your home into your own packing. Minimizing reusable plastics, creating accessibility and affordability.

My interpretation of the “minimum”

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Have any issues drawn your attention during your research into the artefacts, objects or precedent approaches? 

One issue that has drawn my attention is the need for more accessible resources for business to switch to using biodegradable products if they wish to. It seems like the businesses that are using the approach of creating there own new materials are sort of special cases where they are in certain circumstances which gives them the advantage to do so. Food industry is  one of the greatest packaging disposal  producers and realizing biodegradable packages for food  stuffs is an important requirement of nowadays environmental problems.

Are they significant or serious enough to warrant interventions? Why do you think so?

Creating a biodegradable material for the use of making products and packaging for products is most defiantly significant enough to warrant intervention. I think this because I believe it is import to create design that is accessible to everyone, accessible meaning affordable and able to be replicated by another person or company with little outside resources needed.

Are you interested in dealing with the issues? Why do you think it is worth working on?

I am interested in creating new accessible materials, as I have said above I believe its worth working on to allow the accessibility for more people to have the option.The biggest potential area of impact for compostable plastics is in food service. From coffee cups to sandwich packaging to takeaway containers, putting food in compostable plastics means that – in an ideal world, at least – the plastic and any food waste still stuck to it can be composted together. It’s a triple win: reducing the amount of plastic being sent to landfill, preventing recycling from being contaminated with food, and at the same time making sure food waste is returned to the soil, not left to rot in landfill where it will release methane.

Have there been any attempts to resolve the issues? 

Yes, there are many companies who have created their own biodegradable packaging such as: Biopak, Innocentpackaging, Printstock, Ecoware, Naturepac, Nisbits NZ, Planetpaper

How effective were they?

There is no doubt that they are effective, the problem is the accessibility for everyone which is affordable. Or for those who do not want to out source there packaging being given the accessibility to create their own effective biodegradable material at a low cost.

What do you think is the root cause of the issues?

The request for biodegradable materials is a big challenge of nowadays because of the big amount of plastic trash which is released daily from the anthropic activities. Manufacturing of biobased materials requires knowledge of the processing and material properties of the polymers. If the properties of native polymer are not identical to the required one, or if the polymer by nature is not thermoplastic, a certain modification of the polymer must take place. It should be expected that following requisite processing and product developments of biobased materials resulting properties should equal or better those of the conventional alternatives. Biobased plastic applications are currently targeted towards single-use, disposable, short-life packaging materials, service ware items, disposable non-woven and coating for paper and paperboard applications. In general, the same shapes and types of food packaging can be made from synthetic and biobased resources. Notably, developments are currently focusing towards the biobased materials which must be able to mimic the water vapour barriers of the conventional materials known today.

Is it related to materials, production or distribution?

All of the above

Are there better options available?

There are lots of better options then using paper based biodegradable production. For example Ecovative Design I have attached below, outsource a company to grow mushrooms for them which they then have made into their packaging. This company has created links between other companies in order to fulfill their needs. 

Is it associated with human behavior including beliefs, instincts, habits or traditions? 

I believe their are a set of behaviors we have developed over many years of following certain traditions that have directly influenced our perception of how we live. Unfortunately we have created a dependence on material things and over consumption of not only plastic but food as well.

How rigid are they?

Currently with all the situations we have in the world many of the beliefs, habits and traditions are being thrown away or changed as we start to realize the impact of our decisions.

Are the issues known to the public? 

Very known, Its more about things being accessible in order to be able to change.

Can awareness mitigate the issues? 

Awareness is an important part of giving people the knowledge they need to realise there change. 

Is there ignorance or indifference?

I think that when it comes to large issues there is alot of ‘I would rather not know’ because its alot easier to live your life peacefully if you don’t care as such, it almost gets put into the to hard basket which is part of the reason why if it was easier and more accessible the change would be alot smoother for people who might otherwise just ignored the problem. 

Are there any potential antagonists?

Some people believe plastic isn’t as bad as it is being made out to be, they believe Firstly, we need to fix the plastic’s image problem. They believe a clearer labelling system, similar to the way recyclability is marked on food packaging, is the best why to do this, but it will take years to be implemented.

 Can they be approached, persuaded or overwhelmed? 

Separating out food waste and associated compostable packaging into a different waste stream would mean the remaining recycling is kept away from coffee dregs, tea bags and other contaminants.

Progress made by countries like Italy – where single-use bags for produce and baked goods must be compostable, and can be recycled as part of widespread food waste collections – shows that solutions to some of our plastic problems are there for the taking.

Bioplastic cutlery, like these, often end up in landfill when councils do not have the capability of processing them

Identify a design opportunity

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Atlast™

Mycelium is a vegan ingredient for structure. With our Atlast™ platform, we’re creating an edible scaffolding made of mycelium that can be infused with flavors and other components to deliver a whole cut of meat to the dinner table.

MycoFlex™

Our MycoFlex™ platform produces 100% pure mycelium structure. This mycelium foam offers a sustainable alternative to plastic-based materials for a wide range of applications from high-performance footwear to leather alternatives.

MycoComposite™

With our MycoComposite™ platform, mycelium — the root structure of mushrooms — binds together organic matter like agricultural byproducts and wood chips to produce durable, biodegradable and 100% vegan composite materials.

Our Mycelium foundry allows us to develop and fine-tune new, sustainable materials by programming biology. We use mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, throughout our technology platforms to grow advanced materials.

Macrostructures

Mycelium is capable of building macrostructures. This aspect is unique to our biofabrication platforms in the biotechnology space. We grow high-performance structures versus making individual components that need to be assembled into a functional material.

Tunable Characteristics

Our biofabrication processes enable us to tune the structure of mycelium based on the desired performance characteristics of the material we’re producing. We can control porosity, texture, strength, resilience, fiber orientation and more.

Bio-based & Sustainable

Our Mycelium foundry uses natural inputs to produce high-performing, advanced materials that are also compatible with the planet. Mycelium materials will biodegrade over time after their intended product life cycle in contrast to plastic-based materials that hang around for thousands of years.

Purpose

SUPPORT LIFE ON EARTH

10,000 years ago humans domesticated animals

70 years ago humans created plastics

Both changed the course of human history and radically transformed how we live and consume.

Today, plastics and animal agriculture are two of the biggest challenges we face.

Plastics

are a leading cause of physical pollution introducing durable toxins into our environment. Most of this pollution is related to single-use materials, like Styrofoam.

Animal Agriculture

is the single biggest contributor to global warming and the biggest user of arable land planet-wide. In both of these markets, consumers and brands are demanding shifts to cleaner production.

Growing better materials

We use mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, to grow materials that replace plastics and reduce animal slaughter.