corn starch packing peanuts

Another fascinating material which I semidissolved in water then mashed it all up and spread it across the bottom of a bowl. I thwn dried this in the oven, and ended up with a relatively inflexible sheet material. I am not sure though how likely this is to crack....I also found a site describing how to make your own using water and corn starch- well i am not sure i produced a packing peanut, it looks more like a squishy donut. the center part is interesting though, it is almost like parchment paper.

Bio Plarn

Plarning, knitting with yarn made from plastic bags, has recently become a popular way of upcycling plastic bags. This is a crocheted sample of a biobag, made out of corn starch and certain biodegradable polymers. The biobag yarn I made by ripping the bag into strips, whcih results in a relatively soft material. The final sample has been `ironed` in the oven.

material samples

So, here my samples of sustainable materials- first comes molded fibre pulp, i e egg containers. These are made from 100% recycled paper, but i`m not so sure about their own recyclability. Can they be recycled? and into what? Can they be composted? None of the sites I looked at explicitly claimed that...

In defense of David

In review today I was questioned about health care for the beautiful, and really this is not what i had in mind. I took the David statue for a number of reasons: one, he was conceived by Michelangelo, who is associated with so many anatomical studies. His image of man in a circle would have been more suitable but more difficult to build a pyramid with. Two, I was looking for an image of a healthy human being, and rather than resorting to drawings common in medical illustrations I chose a historic image. Three, instead of having to define the specifics of the healthy human myself I relied on a renaissance anatomical master to do it for me. The only problem I can see with this is, that he is that little bit too beautiful as a model of health.

Health Hype

Health Hype

When I arrived back from Mexico City there was the Ponoko package waiting for me, and I had a lot of fun playing with some of the cast offs to see what else can be done with these materials other than laser cutting.....
here are some of them

ecoblog

Sustainable design seems such an overwhelmingly huge subject, that I feel the need to come up with my own personal summary of what is entailed.
1. Material resources have to be sustainable. This includes materials from renewable sources ( e. g. bamboo), reusables (e.g. certain glass milk bottles), recycled or upcycled materials (e.g. paper bags)
2. Production of materials has to be clean, i.e. no huge amounts of toxic waste or excessive use of clean water while producing a `clean` product.
3. Material has to be produced as close to the end user as possible to avoid excessive transportation with its inherent carbon footprint.
4. Responsible disposal of material: reusable, recyclable, biodegradable etc
5. Production has to be socially responsible, i.e. no sweatshops, decent pay.
Sustainable design has implications on most aspects of life, as it deeply affects the way we live, the way we handle products, and the way we consume. Sustainable design leads to a sustainable lifestyle.

Well, what does it all mean?
To start thinking about what should be produced using more sustainable materials I felt that I should really examine the contents of our trash can. The first thing to notice was that there was a lot of biodegradable materials clogging it up, and ultimately filling up our non-recyclable plastic trash bags. Since we live in the Peoples Republic of Takoma Park, a nuclear free zone, I went to the public works department and picked up a free composting bin. While I was going there I took the huge amounts of electronic waste for recycling, an entire trunk full of old hard drives, printers, and other heavy metal laden stuff. Several plastic bags of old batteries went along with it. After that the house felt seriously detoxified!
Then I went and did some applied research in one of the little shops in down town Takoma, named `The Tranquil soul`. which I had stumbled upon only recently. I asked the girl in the shop several questions regarding the materials things were made out of. All of their clothing was made from fair trade materials. All fibers were modified natural materials, ie, cotton, hemp and bamboo. Now the latter surprised me somewhat, because it is so soft that they make underwear out of it! In fact I was so curious that i had to buy a pair!!! And, of course, to take my purchases home I was given a corn plastic bag, which I can now throw into my newly acquired compost bin!