During 3rd year of PDE, I was given a brief called ‘Material world’ that myself and two other classmates had to work on. The project encouraged us to explore how design for a circular economy driven by material experiences and to research each materials engineering properties. Like most projects I am given at the Art school I found this one challenging but very interesting. We began by jotting down different waste materials on a mind map. After some discussion about what waste materials we wanted to take forward, we decided on the ones encircled in red.
Further research was carried out on the waste materials and this is when I stumbled across an article about a Product Designer who had recently won the James Dyson Award. Lucy Hughes, then a student at the University of Sussex had taken fish waste and turned it into a bioplastic. She called the plastic, MarinaTex and it was given the award of £30,000. This award is given to a recent design or engineering graduate who develops a product that solves a problem with ingenuity.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) states “At least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year and make up 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.” This alarming statistic puts it into context of how bad plastic waste is around the world. Lucy, who had always had a loved to spend time near the ocean was shocked by similar statistics and decided to do something about the issue. “There’s value in waste, and we should be looking towards waste products rather than virgin materials if we could”.
Hughes began working with fish waste more specifically the scales and skin. To hold the plastic together she had to find a binder. Over 100 different variations were tried ranging from seaweed to chitosan from shellfish shells. Scientists and the bioplastic community across the globe were helping the young designer, giving her ideas and formulations. It was finally decided that red algae were the most suitable binder for the bioplastic.
The final product shares the same properties of normal plastic that we all love. It is strong, flexible and translucent, it even feels like typical plastic. The property that makes it stand apart from other plastics and bioplastic is that it biodegrades on its own in four to six weeks. Normally, bioplastics require industrial composters to break them down which requires extra energy. This product not only reuses material that would have otherwise been thrown out but the production of it uses relatively little energy. One Atlantic codfish can make up to 1,400 MarinaTex bags.
Sustainability is a word that gets used very frequently in today’s world. With climate change reaching crisis level, we young designers must look towards a greener approach. The old product life cycle of cradle to grave can be no more. Instead, a cradle to cradle approach must be adapted. This approach adds different variables to the equation when designing a product. Careful consideration must be taken when selecting materials, processes, suppliers, shipping options and the list goes on. I feel the view on ‘what is great design’ changes with the times, does something these days have to be sustainable to be considered great design? I think the sustainability of a product plays a massive role in its success. Based on this statement I think it is fair to say that MarinaTex plastic is great design.
On this week’s deals in Glasgow, I’m doing another coffee suggestion (I know two in a row!). This time this deal is available for anyone, it’s not much of a deal it’s just a very good price! If you’re like me and love a good coffee when doing work, you know that you can waste around £15 a week if you get one a day. However, if you head to the Grosvenor café on Ashton Lane you can get a takeaway for just £1. I haven’t found anywhere else cheaper in the 4 years I’ve been living down here. Don’t worry, you’re not compromising taste for the price either, it’s really good quality. Anyway, that’s all from me this week, have a good week and hope to see you for the next blog!
