TEA & TRASH

(material research)

During this project, I tried to create new types of bio-plastics and porcelain with different flavors of tea as its main ingredient, since we throw away 165 million cups of tea daily. That is 60.2 billion per year! And no, the number of cups of coffee we drink is by far less, 70 million a day. So why not use this waste to create something new? Something made out of the trash from our tea.

 During my research on tea I found out that by adding different flavors to your porcelain, you can create different textures and colors. Although most of the colors will disappear after baking, I thought it was a nice founding before making the bio-plastics.

Later in the project, after re-discovering the tea as a combination of materials, I started making bio-plastic, working together with some local companies in Eindhoven. Under which; “Bakkertje Bart, Bakkertje Bol, Z-Bar, and Kaldi. Together we collected tea from all over Eindhoven which later was used to create the Tea bio-plastics.

The tea bio-plastics where used to make pots, in which you could store herbs or grow plants. This particular type of bio-plastic is made completely biodegradable and exits out of 90% out of tea, 1% glycerine, 6% water and 3% agar (which is a binder made out of algae)! So if you want to just plant this pot in your garden, just put it in the ground and the pot will disappear, while your plant will grow further.

After this assignment, I was triggered to learn more about sustainable and innovative natural resources to create new products.