Prompt

With plastic products and packaging all around us, it's easy to feel there's no alternative. We'll look at an exciting area of sustainable design innovation: bioplastics. These plastic alternatives can be made from renewable resources such as vegetable fats and oils, kombucha, corn starch, straw, woodchips, coconut shells, sawdust, and recycled food waste. When processes are applied to these materials, they can offer alternatives and reduce the negative impact on the environment.  

In this activity you will look at examples, or precedents, of how creative people and organizations are developing plastic alternatives. Doing precedent research is your first step in designing new sustainable event products.

Instructions

1. Precedent Review: To find and explore a series of interesting bioplastic and plastic-alternative precedents, click on the "Resources" tab at the top of this page. 
2. Pick 3-5 of the precedents to further explore. You may also research other bioplastic objects using the Internet. 
3. Post the image of your precedent and write 2-3 sentences in the Responses tab above about why you found that particular precedent interesting and what potential you see for it to reduce plastic waste in the future. 
4. Share your post with a group of classmates to learn about what they found!

Deliverables

In the Response Tab, make a post including images of your precedent and your sentences answering the questions above. Make sure to link where you got the images and information about each precedent.

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

Introduction

In this activity, you are going to make your own bioplastic! Individually or in pairs, you will follow the recipe below to make bioplastics. Ultimately, you will use these sheets of bioplastic to creat alternatives to single-use plastics, but at the stage, you should only focus on experimentation with this innovative material. We encourage you to play with color and texture. Pro-tip: Make extra sheets of bioplastic so you can have enough to make projects with (even if some of the outcomes aren't successful). 

Note: This recipe requires roughly 24 hours to complete because the bioplastic needs an extended drying time. Please plan accordingly!

Instructions

Take at least three pictures of your bioplastic making progress. You’ll be sharing these at the end of the challenge.  

Basic Gelatin Bioplastic Recipe

Supplies needed: 

Digital thermometer, access to a gas or electric cooking hob (or hot plate), non-reactive mixing pot (stainless steel or glass), mixing spoons, whisk, weighing scales, something to pour onto (such as a non-stick baking pan, glass casserole dish, or silicone baking mat). 

Ingredients: 

240ml water

48g gelatin

31g glycerine

Food coloring 

Straws (for blowing bubbles into the bioplastic)

Other decorating materials, such as glitter (optional)

Directions: (please read through all of the steps before getting started!) 

1. Add the gelatin and water to your mixing pot. 
2. Thoroughly mix the gelatin and the water until you get a consistent paste. Avoid chunks of dry material.
3. Then slowly heat the mixture till it becomes runny. 
4. Now slowly mix in the glycerine. 
5. Mix the solution continuously to keep the mixture from burning. You may add food coloring at this point if you want! 
6. Continue stirring until the mixture begins to bubble (up to 95°C) then remove from heat and pour! 
7. Pour a thick layer onto a non-stick surface. (You may add other decorative materials at this stage and try to blow bubbles into the mixture ... let it cool a bit to not melt the straw). 
8. Wait for 24 hrs for the material to set. Plan on longer. When the plastic is dry, it will pull away more easily from the surface you poured it onto. (Caution! The material is very hot! Be cautious when mixing and pouring to avoid burns or even melting materials that are not made to withstand high temperatures.)

Deliverable

In the Responses tab above, add photographs of your Bioplastic making process. Add a few sentences to your post about something you did (or would like to do) to experiment with the bio-material.

Have you ever been to a birthday party or a concert and noticed how much single-use plastic you were surrounded by? From plastic drink cups to entry bracelets to party favors, these very temporary events are filling our world with pollution that far outlasts them. In this studio, we're embarking on a journey to reimagine single-use event items with biodegradable materials. 

You will select a single-use plastic item commonly found at events -- such as birthday parties, weddings, concerts, mud runs, carnivals/fairs, or even protests -- and redesign it using bioplastics such as: mycelium, potato starch, or gelatin-based bioplastic. Whether it's decorations, accessories, or utensils, let your imagination run wild! Together, we'll showcase the power of creativity and innovation in crafting biodegradable solutions for short-lived events with long-lasting effects on the planet.

THIS SUSTAINABLE ‘LEATHER’ COMES FROM KOMBUCHA TEA

The gel-like film, grown by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY), feeds on a mixture of vinegar and sugar.

Young-A Lee, an associate professor of apparel, merchandising, and design at Iowa State University, says the properties of this SCOBY film are similar to leather once it’s harvested and dried, and can be used to make clothing, shoes, or handbags.

In a chapter of the book Sustainable Fibers for Fashion Industry (Springer Singapore, 2016), Lee reports the results of her case study on cellulose-based fibre. The material has been tested for other applications, such as cosmetics, foods, and biomedical tissue for wound dressing, but it is relatively new to the apparel industry.

The fact that the fibre is 100 percent biodegradable is a significant benefit for the fashion industry, which by its very nature generates a lot of waste, Lee says.

Learn more about kombucha leather here.   

Aguahoja is a biomaterials exploration from the MIT Mediated Matter Lab. 

"Aguahoja is an exploration of Nature’s design space.  A collection of natural artifacts were digitally designed and robotically fabricated from the molecular components found in tree branches, insect exoskeletons,  and our own bones."

Learn more about Aguahoja here.  

"I read that 50 percent of plastic is used once and then thrown away so I feel there is an urgent need to find ways to replace some of the unreal amount of plastic we make, use and throw away each day. Why are we using materials that take hundreds of years to break down in nature to drink from once and then throw away?"

Designer Ari Johnson was inspired by learning about the amount of plastic made daily to develop a plastic alternative using a renewable resource: algae!

Read more about Johnson's bioplastic work here. 

LEGO, the well-known construction toy company, has made a commitment to reducing plastic in its products and packaging by driving innovation:

"Work will continue on the company’s Sustainable Materials Programme, which employs more than 150 experts, to create sustainable products and packaging. In 2015, the Group set a target to make its products from sustainable materials by 2030. It will expand its use of bio-bricks, such as those made from sugar cane, which currently account for almost 2% of its element portfolio.

It will continue research into new, more sustainable plastics from renewable and recycled sources, and join forces with research institutes and other companies especially those developing new recycling and bio-based material production technologies to find materials that are as durable and high quality as those used today(2)."

Learn more about Legos's exploration of sustainable materials here.  

Using mushrooms and their root systems as raw material for packaging is an innovative approach to reducing our dependency on plastics. Watch the TED talk by Ecovative Design co-founder Eben Bayer to learn more about this approach. 

See examples of mushroom-based packaging here.

Tomorrow Machine is a Swedish design studio based in Stockholm & Paris, specialising in packaging, product and food concepts. 

One of their projects, titled "This Too Shall Pass" is a series of sustainable packaging materials designed to last as long as their contents. Their oil package (pictured above) is made with carmelised sugar and is made to crack like an egg. 

To learn more about Tomorrow Machine's sustainable packaging visit their website here.