Repurposed coffee grounds provide sustainable clothing pigment alternative

Scientists from Iowa State University (ISU) recently unveiled a natural alternative to synthetic clothing pigment. This natural alternative is sourced from brewed coffee grounds.

The research team, spearheaded by ISU Assistant Professor Chunhui Xiang and graduate student Changhyun “Lyon” Nam, found a possible alternative via repurposed coffee grounds. Rather than adding to landfill density and single-use waste, brewed coffee grounds can instead be transformed into another high-value resource.

Related: Blue dye could be the next key to harnessing renewable energy

Brewed coffee grounds are feasible because 100 million Americans drink coffee daily, meaning there is an adequate supply of coffee grounds that can be upcycled and diverted away from landfills. Shades of brown can be extracted from the coffee grounds, then bound to various textiles and fabrics.

Of course, there remain the quandaries of fading and of replicating consistent hues. While the use of pigment fixative helps to bind the color to the fabric and reduce fading, producing consistent hues that can match a template proves to be more complex. More research is required before repurposed coffee grounds can be ready for mass-production of pigments. 

“One disadvantage is that it’s hard to measure the quantity needed to get the same color,” Xiang explained. “There may be a difference in the type of beans, or maybe the coffee was brewed twice. Creating an exact match is a challenge, especially for manufacturers.”

However, Xiang asserted that hue consistency can be overcome by changing consumer attitudes. If consumers are able to reframe their interests so that they accept the uniqueness of colors rather than demand their consistency, then repurposed coffee grounds, as a sustainable source, can be a worthwhile commercial venture.

Historically, textile hues were originally sourced from plants and minerals.  But industrialization forced the textile sector to turn to synthetics, because laboratories could produce them at cheaper cost. Over time, these synthetics have become less and less environmentally friendly. Because the textile industry utilizes upward of 2 million tons of chemicals for its synthetic pigments, there has been a growing movement in today’s society to find more sustainable sources, such as repurposed coffee grounds.

+ Taylor and Francis Online

Via Phys.org

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Geometric pavilion with an inverted living garden holds court in a public square in Annecy, France

Almost 10 years ago, New York-based Behin Ha Design Studio erected an incredible green-walled living pavilion made out of recycled milk crates in the heart of Governors Island. Now, the plant-loving designers are back at it, unveiling a beautiful, inverted garden pavilion in a public square in Annecy, France.

Installed in the Notre Dame plaza in the old city center of Annecy, the 330-square-foot Living Pavilion is a modular system of dairy crates. Assembled in a three-sided geometric shape, the recycled milk crates serve as the framework for the inverted garden.

The exterior shape of the Living Pavilion, with its hipped and gabled roof, was meant to pay homage to the historic buildings of Annecy. With three immense openings, visitors are invited to enter under the pavilion to enjoy the suspended, lush garden planted on the interior walls.

Related: A tiny, 96-square-foot rustic pavilion brings the outdoors in

The geometric design gives the structure the potential to become a public or private shelter that is open to fresh air yet protected from harsh elements. The crates that make up the structure were strategically planted with drought-tolerant Liriope plants, which are resilient to almost any type of climate and can naturally cool the interior.

Like the original installation in Governors Island in 2010, the most recent version of the Living Pavilion uses multiple milk crates to create a planting system for the garden. The drought-tolerant plants are initially cultivated in the crates in an upright position. Once the vegetation has grown, the planted crates are then installed upside-down to form walls. At the end of the Annecy installation, the crates can be removed and cultivated in another environment.

According to the designers, the modular system creates a full-circle lifecycle for the structure. The design ensures that the pavilion can be easily disassembled and reassembled in another location while protecting the plants during the transition, allowing for regeneration of the same pavilion year after year.

+ Behin Ha Design Studio

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Tooth: the eco-friendly toothbrush made from recycled and biodegradable materials

As ubiquitous as morning coffee is the practice of brushing your teeth. We know you’re conscientious about water consumption by turning off the faucet while you brush, but there’s that seldom-discussed issue of toothbrush waste, mostly plastic, that equates to around 1,000,000,000 toothbrushes heading to the landfill annually, and that’s just in the United States. Luckily, some passionate designers from London have decided to develop a sustainable option to divert waste from landfills.

They call it Tooth, a last-for-a-lifetime toothbrush handle with replaceable heads. Unlike the 98 percent of toothbrushes that are not biodegradable, the Tooth replacement heads will break down. The main portion of the brush head is made from locally sourced sugar beets that have been turned into Floreon. The bristles are made from Nylon 4; both products are 100 percent biodegradable.

Related: Your guide to eco-friendly toothpastes

The handle is contoured out of recycled aluminum, a durable metal that eliminates the need to create virgin aluminum and the carbon emissions that come with it. The handles are also 100 percent recyclable when they are no longer useful. Tooth has a lifetime guarantee as long as you remain a subscriber.

Select one of four colors including ash, charcoal, rose, or gold, and choose from three bristle firmness options. You can also get a recycled steel stand to keep your Tooth aired out and to avoid contact with germs lurking on countertops. There’s also a travel case that protects the Tooth and stores up to three additional replacement heads.

Dentists recommend changing your toothbrush every three months, so with a subscription, Tooth will automatically send a replacement head directly to your house every three months; you can go ahead and cross that chore off the list. Because the company is sustainably focused, your shipment will arrive in eco-friendly packaging. With recycled cardboard, plastic-free labels and a flat design, everything can go into the recycling upon receipt.

Tooth is currently an active and fully funded Kickstarter campaign, due to expire on October 18. Shipments are expected for April 2020.

+ Tooth

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Artist suspends a giant cube filled with images of ocean plastic inside a London museum

Architectural and design studio Sam Jacob Studio has unveiled a new installation that highlights the burgeoning threat that plastic waste poses to the planet. Suspended from the ceiling of London’s V&A Museum, Sea Things is a giant, mirrored cube that emits a cartoon-style animated video. The animation takes spectators on a poignant journey from the year the first commercial plastic products were launched to 2050, the year some scientists estimate that the volume of plastic will be greater than fish in the world’s oceans.

As part of London Design Festival, Sea Life greets visitors as they enter the V&A Museum’s great hall. Suspended in the air, the massive, transparent cube was inspired by a Charles and Ray Eames textile pattern found in the museum that depicts a pattern of fish and other sea creatures.

However, the artist has updated the Eames pattern to reflect today’s growing ocean pollution issue. Along with a bevy of fish, a variety of waste objects found in the ocean these days, namely plastic bottles, has been added floating around in the cube.

Related: Artist submerges 24 portraits underwater to raise attention about our plastic waste

The animation begins in 1907, the year that one of the first commercial plastic products (Bakelite) was launched. The animation continues through the years, showing how the ocean waters have become more and more polluted with massive amounts of waste. The animation ends in 2050, the year that the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has estimated that the volume of plastic waste in our oceans will be greater than the amount of marine life.

During the inauguration of the eco-art installation, Sam Jacob explained his inspiration. “The Eames’ were working in a very optimistic time when consumerism was linked to freedom. For us, now, we’re working in a very different context. Our relationship to things, to production, to ecology is far more difficult and complex,” he told journalists. “So, what we’ve done here is to remake the Eames’ pattern from the perspective of 2019.”

While Sea Things is located on the ground floor, Jacob is also exhibiting a collection of ceramic water vessels in the museum’s ceramics gallery. The series reimagines some of the museum’s most historic objects remade in modern materials. For example, a water pot from China’s Ming Dynasty is reproduced in recycled plastic, and a 4,000-year-old beaker from Scotland was remade using bioplastic made from sea shells.

+ Sam Jacob Studio

Via Dezeen

Photography by Ed Reeve via Sam Jacob Studio

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Central Park to undergo $150M LEED Gold-targeted redesign

To cap the Central Park Conservancy’s 40-year renewal of Central Park, the nonprofit has unveiled designs to update the park’s north end with a LEED Gold-targeted recreational facility, a new pool, skating rink and other amenities. The $150 million project also aims to repair the site’s damaged ecology and hydrology using environmentally responsible practices. The groundbreaking for the transformative project will take place in spring 2021 and construction is expected to reach completion in 2024.

Designed with input from more than a year of extensive community engagement, the redesign for Central Park’s north end will replace the Lasker Rink and Pool that were built in 1966. The position of the rink and pool will also be changed; the facilities currently obstruct access between the Harlem Meer and the scenic Ravine to the south. In repositioning the pool and the rink building, the waterway will be reestablished and will once again flow overland through the Ravine into the Meer. To reconnect visitors to the water, a curvilinear boardwalk will be installed across a series of small islands and the new freshwater marsh.

Related: Sustainable Central Park with energy-producing trees unveiled for Ho Chi Minh City

In addition to improved biodiversity and landscape integration, the project will feature a new facility built into the topography of the site. The LEED Gold-seeking building will be built with locally sourced, natural materials of stone, wood and glass. Demolition debris will be recycled and reused on site wherever possible. Walls of floor-to-ceiling glass punctuated by slender wood columns will let in natural daylight to reduce reliance on artificial lighting and will create a seamless visual connection to the outdoor recreation areas. The roof will be landscaped to offer additional public gathering space and mitigate the urban heat island effect.

“The fundamental premise of the design derives from the restoration’s leading objective: repairing the damaged ecology and hydrology of the site, a goal that filters through every aspect of the project’s commitment to sustainability and the highest standards of environmentally responsible construction practices,” reads the Central Park Conservancy press release. “By building into the slope to insulate the interior of the pool house, orienting the structure and its overhangs to shade the interior in summer and admit sunlight in winter and providing ‘stack ventilation‘ through the operable glass facade, the design’s passive climate control minimizes the use of energy for heating and cooling.”

+ Central Park Conservancy

Images via Central Park Conservancy

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How your salon visit contributes to your carbon footprint

As the services available at salons evolve, waste, pollution and exposure to toxins have increasingly become part of the experience. When one considers that the beauty industry creates 420,000 pounds of waste every day in America alone, it’s not difficult to see why we should be aware of the carbon footprint your hair services actually create. One salon is hoping to change that to help clients feel their best without increasing their carbon footprints.

Benjamin Novak Hudgins of Novak Hair Studios in the Dallas-Fort Worth area took a stand against this waste, and now runs a massive, 10,000 square-foot, zero-waste salon that employs more than 70 stylists and provides hair care for over 5,000 clients each month. Novak Hair Studios has successfully taken steps to remedy the many wasteful practices and is setting an example for other salons around the world.

Related: Find Bliss in this natural, cruelty-free and affordable skincare

Water 

Reports have estimated that stylists use anywhere between 16 and 75 gallons of water per hour from rinsing out color, washing hair and cleaning supplies. Most of this is flushed directly down the drain. Multiply that by 6 to 12 clients each day per hairdresser, and you can begin to see the issue.

To handle water consumption, the salon installed fixtures designed to cut water usage by 65 percent. All hair color is collected so that it doesn’t head into the sewer system, and even hair trimmings are put to good use. “We even found a way to repurpose human hair for cleaning up oil spills in rivers, lakes and oceans,” Hudgens said.

Hair dye

Ammonia and other chemicals included in hair dyes are rinsed into the drainage system. Although treated, commercial filters do not remove all of these chemicals, some of which have been linked to cancer, before they are reintroduced into the supply of potable water. In addition, the chemical offsetting during application puts the stylist and client at risk for inhaling the toxins.

According to Hudgens, all hair color at Novak Hair Studios is diverted from being filtered back into the community’s drinking water, and the salon uses a plant-based hair product line, Eufora.

Waste

At most salons, trash cans overflow with plastic, foil, tubes, gloves and other waste that totals about 150,000,000 pounds of trash annually for the beauty industry. The average hair color treatment requires around 25 feet of aluminum foil. While foil can be recycled, it is only accepted if it is clean and dry, a step rarely taken in salons. In the trash heap, foil can take 200 to 400 years to break down.

The salon boasts an impressive 95 percent rate of waste being diverted from landfills through its dedication to sustainable actions. In addition to sorting out hair clippings and dyes, all foil is cleaned and recycled; paper products, plastics and hair color gloves are also recycled.

“The most effective solution we have found is partnering with Green Circle Salons, who helps manage all of the recycling solutions,” Hudgens said. “When you pair Green Circle’s resources up with creating accessible recycling stations throughout the salon, it makes sustainability a breeze.”

To reduce electricity waste, the entire salon uses motion-sensored LED lights in addition to an abundance of windows that provide natural light.

Air quality

As part of Hudgens’ Clean Air Initiative, the salon revamped its air system and incorporated air-filtering plants into the space, providing consistent fresh air to the dozens of stylists and clients at all times.

“My first fight was to confront cancer-causing and allergy-inducing products that are so commonly used in salons,” Hudgens said. “The final step to that initiative was the architectural design of our space. By leaving each individual studio’s ceiling exposed, we were able to create an open path for chemicals to directly enter the air filtration system and allow clean air flow into every space.”

A salon changing the industry standard

The biggest piece of the puzzle is awareness. There is a need for change that can only come about when the industry and clients realize the impact hair services have on the planet and make a conscious decision to do something about it. Consumers appreciate a conscientious business, meaning that sustainably minded salons will likely see an increase in business, which is a win for the company and the environment. Plus, it makes you and me feel better about that visit to the salon.

“I quickly learned Fort Worth cares more than I could have ever imagined,” Hudgens said. “In just a year and a half of being open, we see more than 5,000 people a month. Not a single day goes by without our team being thanked for making a difference in our global impact and giving our clients the opportunity to choose a sustainable future in beauty.”

+ Novak Hair Studios

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Two sustainable rental units dressed in reclaimed brick are self-sustaining through solar power

Melbourne-based firm Breathe Architecture has brought a bit of California flair to a Melbourne suburb. Using the empty space behind two existing Cali-style bungalows, the designers have managed to create two single, light-filled dwellings enveloped in reclaimed brick facades. The two rental properties were designed to offer the area environmentally sustainable and affordable rental housing that homogenizes with the local vernacular.

Located in the area of Glen Iris, the Bardolph Garden House was designed as a building comprised of two rental units that blend in with the neighborhood aesthetic and each other. The simple, brick-clad volumes with pitched roofs emit a classic, traditional look while concealing dual contemporary interiors.

Related: This home made of broken bricks features a series of rolling green roofs

The two units are similar in size, both measuring just over 2,000 square feet. The entrances to the homes are through a covered courtyard and a landscaped garden area. The exterior spaces remain private thanks to several brick screens that also let natural breezes flow into these outdoor areas.

When designing the layout of the two properties, the firm was dedicated to creating two energy-efficient units. As such, the project incorporated a number of passive features to reduce the homes’ energy needs. In addition to the greenery-filled pocket gardens that help insulate the properties, the gabled roofs and external steel awnings help maximize northern solar gain during the winter and minimize it during the summer months.

Thanks to the region’s pleasant temperatures, the bright living spaces are incredibly welcoming. Vaulted ceilings add more volume to the interior, and an abundance of windows draw in plenty of natural light. The interior design, which features furnishings by StyleCraft and textiles by Armadillo & Co, is bright and airy with a neutral color palette that enhances the natural materials. Concrete flooring and white walls contrast nicely with the timber accents found throughout the living spaces. Additionally, the interior boasts a number of reclaimed materials, such as a repurposed timber bench tops and terrazzo tiles.

Carefully designed to maximize thermal performance, the two units are completely self-sustaining. Their energy is supplied through a solar PV array on the roof, and a sustainable heat pump system supplies hot water. A rainwater collection system was also installed so that gray water could be collected and stored on-site for reuse.

+ Breathe Architecture

Via ArchDaily

Photography by Tom Ross via Breathe Architecture

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