Materials from Detergent Bottles, Swimming Pool Covers, and Old Tires

Yemm & Hart, based in Missouri, offers many unique products featuring their own materials made from common recycled items such as detergent bottles, swimming pool covers, and tires.  Their three lines of materials create unique and colorful products that can be used by anyone.  One decorative material, known as Origins, is created from discarded detergent bottles.  Unlike other plastic laminate products with patterns that are printed on to create a uniform design, Yemm & Hart’s products made from their Origins line, have a more random coloring pattern.

The creation of Origins involves many steps.  Used bottles are collected, sorted by color, shredded into very small pieces, and then soaked in hot water to remove any contamination such as soap or paper labels.  Sorting the bottles by color during this preparation process, allows for color pattern customization.  A measured amount of blended colors is then spread into a mold, placed in an oven, and heated until it transformed into a liquid.  Pressure is then applied, which causes distribution of the colored flakes.  The pattern comes out differently every time for each product, and the colors used tend to be very vibrant, which Yemm & Hart believes is a key selling point for this material line, making them stand out from other products on the market.  In the end, they are pleasing to the eye, and more desirable than typically one-colored recycled items.  Products range from countertops, casegoods, lighting and tables, to smaller items such as clipboards and picture frames.

YEMM & HART

How ZO_loft Brings New Thinking to Portable Shelter Design

ZO-loft, a four-person architecture and design studio base in Italy, has designed a portable shelter concept that has many surprising and innovative aspects contained within.  Called the ZO_loft WheelLY, the shelter consists of (please refer to schematic image above) 1. a cloth bag, 2. reflecting colored rubber rim, 3. folding polyester resin tent, 4. rubber tire, 5. aluminum frame, 6. pressed paper rollers to serve as bearings, and 7. an insulating rubber disc with a sponsor’s logo on the surface (smart way of potentially reducing costs).  When opened, the shelter is ready to be inhabited for hopefully short durations, or may be used to “wheel” one’s possessions around, as it is capable of storing upwards of 250 liters of items.

(Images courtesy of ZO_loft via Treehugger.com)

Given the amount of need which exists in the world for low cost, sturdy, and quick-construction shelter, the ZO_loft WheelLY represents a strikingly innovative step forward which may indeed be applicable in the future - it still needs some issues worked out however, such as how comfortable it would be to sleep while lying over the inner edge of the tire when more space is required.  Nonetheless, this concept is another indication of how important it is for industrial designers and architects to contribute to solving the big issues which lay before us - climate change, disaster relief, widening humanitarian crises, etc.  And it is worth noting that these concepts represent a far cry from the toxic trailers provided by FEMA, for victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, although it appears that that problem may be getting some attention albeit years after the fact.  Perhaps the Federal Government (and FEMA leaders in particular) should take a closer look at what ZO-loft has come up with, along with the many other promising concepts for portable shelter that are being developed around the world (e.g. Daniel Schipper’s collapsible shelter concept).

ZO_loft

The Structural Potential of Blobs

(All images courtesy of arcspace.com)

With a father who worked in the early days of plastic packaging materials for Container Corp. of America, architect Greg Lynn grew up as he says, “surrounded by plastics”, and often exclaims about how plastic-centric modern culture has become.  He is credited with coining the term ‘blob architecture‘, and is well known for his implementation of high end CAD software in the development of biomorphic architectural structures, as well as the notion that Calculus is an effective means by which to achieve complex abstraction and expression in the form of architecture.  All of these principles are evident in his Blobwall Pavilion, an organic modular structure consisting of colorful recyclable plastic blow-molded modules (or “bricks”, as Lynn calls them), on view at the SCI-Arc Gallery in Los Angeles, through July 13, 2008.  In collaboration with well-known architectural material innovator, Panelite, and CNC fabricator, Machineous, Lynn developed the modular bricks to be used in quickly constructed freestanding indoor/outdoor structures, which could be adapted depending on need.

Aside from its dramatic visual impact the Blobwall presents a new way to think about modular construction, taking a step away from the standard masonry-based brick, and offering an organic alternative to allow for practically endless structural form. By using lightweight recyclable plastic modules, Lynn has shown that the standards of geometric shape and form no longer need to be adhered to by the practitioners of modular architecture.  It wouldn’t be surprising if he is currently considering numerous variations to the current brick, as well as the myriad applications for which they could be used, such as bus stops, temporary shelter and housing, etc.  But no matter what Lynn’s Blobwall may evolve into, it will surely maintain its dual nature of playful yet practical, as he emphasizes that “It is both product, like a child’s toy, and building.”

Some helpful links:

Greg Lynn FORM Blobwall

Blobwall Pavilion Blog

Panelite

Machineous

Studio Greg Lynn on YouTube

Southern California Institute of Architecture

As Goes Oil, So Goes Plastic

With daily headlines proclaiming the dramatic rise in oil prices and the inevitability of “Peak Oil”, consumers are being forced to dramatically alter their driving (and flying) habits, and if a recessionary economy takes hold, manufacturers may have to scale back oil-dependent production lines.  Although such trends may actually lead to a decrease in oil prices down the road, there is no consensus among economists and oil industry experts that that would happen.  In the meantime, apart from a more costly commute, the effects of oil’s rise are visible in gradually rising prices for goods, as manufacturers seek alternatives to petroleum-based sources for plastic, and alternative fuels for their operations.  For example, Goodyear has made a move to natural rubber as an alternative to oil-based synthetics for their tires, but because of the rise in commodities such as natural rubber, have had to raise prices by 15%.  This is just one example of many, which spell out the financial pressures that many manufacturers are facing, and how an across-the board rise in product prices (inflation) may be in the offing.

(Courtesy National Geographic Magazine)

An article in the April 2006 issue of National Geographic Magazine approaches this issue quite effectively, and includes some striking images, such as a two-page spread of a family’s lawn strewn with an array of everyday products made from petroleum-based plastics.  The actual print article is worth a look because the image above does not quite do the dramatic justice of spelling out how oil-dependent design and manufacturing have become.  With this dire discussion however, comes the potential that PLA and other natural (bio-based) raw materials may someday supersede petrol-based plastics, thus aiding the transition to the low-impact industrial economy we must create in order to make the world more sustainable in the long run.  Although this transition may not be altogether smooth, as companies frantically compete for natural and/or recycled material sources, the result will be a stronger and potentially more equitable economy based on less oil dependency, waste, and toxicity, and greater life-sustaining innovation.

Please visit the following links for more information:

New York Times article Oil Prices Raise Cost of Making Range of Goods

Excerpt from National Geographic Magazine’s The End of Cheap Oil

Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas

U.S. DOE Energy Information Administration

U.S. DOE Energy Information Administration’s Oil Market Basics

U.S. DOE Office of Petroleum Reserves

Ecolean Packaging, A Unique Alternative

Ecolean makes a packaging system that uses a material which is based on calcium carbonate (aka, made from a chalk). They are calling their patented material “Calymer” and it consists of 40% calcium carbonate, natural chalk and polymers (PE and PP) as the binding agent. The packages are manufactured and printed by Ecolean in accordance with each food producer’s instructions. They are then delivered on reels to the factory (who will be adding the contents), hygienic and hermetically pre-sealed. Their Calymer material should not be confused with biodegradable plastics on the market as they follow a different life-cycle. According to their site, upon disposal, a used Calymer package can either be recycled as a traditional plastic or “recovered as energy by incineration.”

The Ecolean Calymer material comes with a full Food Contact Approval Certificate and has improved organoleptic properties over traditional plastic packaging options, meaning that it will preserve the freshness and protect the containers contents longer. The system requires a their proprietary production line with filling machines and packing stations. The filling machine opens, fills and re-seals the packages in 2.4 seconds. Although their Ecolean packaging is available with the system, the Calymer material itself is not for sale.

BASF Adds a “Story” Section to Their Website

In the spirit of open communications with the public about their green projects, BASF has launched a section on their site devoted to promoting their green initiatives that have successfully had positive impacts on the environment. One material they’ve released recently is called Ecoflex, a plastic they say is completely biodegradable and compostable. Targeted as a replacement material in the production of trash bags and disposable packaging, it’s designed to decompose (in compost) within a few weeks. In soil, BASF claims it will leave no residues. Ecoflex is engineered to work just like Low Density Polyethylene, allowing it to be made into films, bags or coatings. This bio-based plastic does not require drying and remains stable for one year on the shelf or being warehoused.

BASF is also working on initiatives such as PremAir, a catalyst product for the commercial market that destroys harmful, ground-level ozone (different from the ozone that we’re used to hearing about). A main component of smog (smoke and fog), ground-level ozone causes eye and nose irritation while weakening the immune system, increasing chances of illness. It’s been found by some studies that hospital visits and fatalities caused by respiratory complications are increased when ground-level ozone amounts are higher than average. When BASF’s PremAir coating is applied to heat-exchange surfaces, such as traditional car radiators for example, the catalyst coating manages to reduce ground-level ozone in the air, converting the ozone molecules into oxygen molecules instantly upon surface contact.

Click here to visit BASF stories.

Bio-based Plastics That Can Survive Freezing Temperatures

CP-INJ-13 is the first ever first-ever freeze-tolerant bio-based resin. This material is an extension of the existing biodegradable, compostable plastics in the Cereplast line. A substitute for petroleum-based plastic, their alternatives are starch-based, made from corn, wheat, tapioca and potato starches. To learn more about the new PLA (polylactic acid), click here…

The Source Toothbrush by Radius

This new “reversible” (a niche term for right or left hand compatible) design from Radius comes with a replaceable head that holds the brush. It’s handle is comprised of blended wood fiber and a PLA made with Nebraska maize. Available at your nearest Whole Foods store and many other locations.