Cresta
2022 / Sustainability Design
Biodegradable Planters Made by Coffee Grounds.
99.8% of coffee bean is turned into coffee grounds, and Taiwan produces around 300,000 tonnes of this waste every day. Most of this waste is sent to landfills, producing greenhouse gas methane that contributes to the effects of global warming.
Therefore, the negative effects of untreated coffee grounds and other waste decomposition are reduced by recycling.
The traditional linear economy model does not correctly view the value of waste. Although there are recycled resources, they only account for 30% of the total output, and 70% of the resources are only used once and then piled up in landfills for cleaning. This rubbish also consume a lot of resources.
Proportional experiment
Coffee grounds are a mold-prone waste material, so preventing them from getting moldy was the biggest challenge. I took a long time to experiment with the most suitable materials and proportions to make the pots.
Three raw materials
It is made with three main materials: coffee grounds, seaweed glue (impression powder), and gelatin (gelatin powder). Among these three materials,seaweed glue makes the module firm, gelatin increases the toughness of the module and sticks to the material, so the module will not crack, and coffee grounds will have a dyeing effect because coffee grounds will float out of coffee oil when they touch the water.
The COFFEE GROUNDS PLANTERS emits coffee fragrance, so in addition to planting and beautifying the indoor environment, the fragrance also makes users more relaxed.
The material used in COFFEE GROUNDS PLANTERS is biodegradable. When not in use, the pots can be placed in the soil to decompose or used as transplanting pots and provide the nitrogen, magnesium, and potassium nutrients contained in coffee grounds, or crushed up in small quantities and placed around the plants as a fertilizer.
When using, pour the water into the sink first, and the hemp rope will absorb water to the bottom of the planting area due to the capillary phenomenon, allowing the roots of the plants to absorb water.
Crush the COFFEE GROUNDS PLANTER when the plant needs to be transplanted or not in use. Sprinkle crushed pieces of coffee grounds around your plants and they will break down over time and provide nutrients as fertilizer.
Simulate Thermoforming
Using the process of thermoforming, make COFFE GROUNDS PLANTERS consistent in size. Because the cost of making molds in factories is expensive, 3D printing molds are used to simulate them. The upper mold presses the material down to the lower mold, waits for the material to solidify, and then pulls it out for drying. Made on the basis of similar thermoforming techniques.
Surface texture
To improve the fluidity of the material, mixing more water results in an increase in setting time. So the coffee oil from the coffee grounds has more time to dye with the wet spots. The longer the planter solidifies and dries, the darker the color. In short, the texture of each planter is unique, and the texture looks like a rusted metal object.
Cresta Graduation Project 2022
design : su xin yu
material consultation : TZULAï ｜syu jhen kai ｜wu you hao
model : liu cheng yan
instructor : lin ming huang｜li jian you｜liu jia sheng
