Safe Healthy Sustainable
Welcome to MUSA To the world “Sustainability” has multiple meaning. The definitions of which we are still learning and creating new. With every rotation of our earth we gain more knowledge yet counter it with our own devastation. What I believe as being sustainable is to be either recyclable or compostable. Each having their own positive impact on our environment. I have adopted the name MUSA for this project, as this is the name given to the banana tree that the tea bags are made from. Its my hope that MUSA will mean many things for many different people but most importantly MUSA is designed to show you the possibilities of what design can be not what it has become. The way we see our earth needs to change, She isn’t just a place we live and take for granted. She is living and demands our respect, We need to protect our earth so that she can protect us and I hope that MUSA can open peoples eyes to the endless possibility that we can accomplish through recycling to ensure earth’s safety. So let me show you what I think sustainability can do for earth and how we can do it together. Welcome to MUSA - A sustainable way of designing.
Contents
05
The Tea Bag
Break down of the elements
01
07
The Circular Economy
Our Environment
The impacts we’re having
How it works and where it fits in with my project
09
My Mission How and why
Contents
23
11
The Push Pop Third artefact
My Directions
The directions of the project
18
The T cup
Second artefact
13
The R pot First artefact
28
Personal Information
Our Environment On average the UK produces over 200,000 million tons of waste with each household producing 31 million tons each year. Each of these households throws away around 6 trees worth of paper. The amount of waste we produce increases by 3% to the year just gone. Paper and card make up a fifth of our waste and two thirds of this is recycled, this makes paper one of the main materials we recycle. Plastic is one of the most common and over manufactured materials we produce. We produce 20 times more plastic now then we did 50 years ago due to the demand of society and its usefulness.
Our Environment On average we waste between £250 and £400 worth of potentially edible food per household each year. Due to their complex structure and harmful chemicals materials like: • CFL lights • Most electronics • Batteries • Cosmetic packaging • Eye glasses • Christmas lights Although few companies specialise in recycling these products it isn’t enough. The world needs to change and it starts with
You!!!!!
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b n ca s in n’t b n t is i te bu s wa cled r ou ecy f r O
Our Environment Domestic Waste Domestic waste is the waste that is generated as a result of day to day use of a domestic premises (Household) and can be either: • Taken from a premises by or on behalf of the owner who generated that waste. This can be without consideration, payment, reward or benefit. • Collected by or on behalf of the local council as part of their waste collection schemes and disposal systems. Domestic waste however is not: • Taken from a domestic premises under commercial arrangements. • Generated at a domestic premises as a result of commercial arrangements such as, builders paid for renovations or by commercial mowing or garden contractors.
Our Environment
Commercial Waste Commercial waste is defined as anything that isn’t domestic waste. Commercial waste may be generated as a result of an operation of a non-profitable business/company or organisation, this could include lawn and garden clippings from normal maintenance of the business premises. Commercial waste can also include rubbish produced by business customers. Some facilities do not accept commercial waste, this waste can be generated by activities such as: • • • • • • • • •
Manufacturing processes Mining Wholesale or retail trading Sorting, resource Reprocessing Recycling operations. Accommodation services Hospital services Veterinary services
The Tea bag
The plastic skeleton: The tea bags use thermoplastics to seal the bags and preventing them from coming apart during the boiling process. However these thermoplastics do not degrade in compost bins and are left behind as a skeleton once the herbs and fibres have been absorbed by the soil. The herbs: The tea herbs are most commonly disposed of in compost bins due to it’s high nutritional values. Tea bags revitalise the soil and allow flowers and herbs such as, roses and thyme, to thrive and grow. The ABACA fibres: The abaca fibres originate for the musa banana plant and once striped and cured, these fibres become one of the strongest natural materials we use in today’s industry. The abaca fibres have the ability to bio-degrade, meaning that using these fibres for compost allows your soil to regain and absorb the nutrients from these strands.
It takes 15 months for a MUSA banana tree to fully grow and around 2 years for the tea herbs to be ready for harvest. Its takes around 3 and half years for a single tea bag to be made and we use it for 5 minutes, Why can’t we use such a valuable material for longer? Tea bags are made up of 25% plastic. This plastics are called thermo plastics and are used to seal the tea bag to prevent the bag from tearing whilst in the boiling process. Once the tea making process is completed the user throws the tea bag either in the compost or food waste unaware that the tea bag doesn’t completely bio-degrade and leaves a plastic skeleton behind. Each cup of tea that is boiled, releases around 11.6 billion micro plastics and 3.1 billion nano plastics into your cup. These micro and nano plastics are particles that are on a molecular level, although theses don’t seem harmful to humans, the birds and sea life that feed on them thinking they are food is killing off our oceans and with it the human race. This may be a small part of pollution but we have to start somewhere so why not here?
5 r o f s r ea utes Y 3 n Mi
The Tea bag
The Tea Bag
The Circular Economy
The circular economy is a cycle in which waste products are rethought, redesigned, and remade into a new product. This way its reducing the amount of waste we create, by taking the waste and turning it into something new.
Design
Fibres degrade Plastic skeleton left behind
Put tea bag in compost
Plastic put in bin
Drain tea Bag
Make a Cup of tea
Distribution
Production
Consumption
Re - Use
Recycled Materials (Tea bags)
Recycled/ Recovered Materials
Residual Waste
How might we reuse High volume waste products to create a new (sustainable) product? My mission is to create a new material from the high volume waste we create, Whilst being sustainable. I will ensure my project: -Is made from as much recycled material as possible. - Is it designed for longevity. - Can the product be recycled.
Our
Mission
What? The aim of this project is to take used tea bags and use them to create a new unique material to aid the creation of a product/products.
Why?
How?
This project is based on the principles of taking a high volume waste material to create a new sustainable material. Due to Covid - 19 the material had to be sourced locally and with a constant stream of access. Tea bags are a high volume waste product that people don’t tend to know the effect of composting them. The aim is to take to tea bags and stop them from being put in the ground and give this valuable material a second chance.
Through out this project the aim is to create a material from used tea bags whilst creating an educational tool with the used herbs that will be separated from the tea bags. This project aims to turn the used tea bags into a paper like material by firstly turning the bags into a pulp, compressing said pulp into a mould, drying the result and creating a frame for the product to sit in. This project strives to take the used tea herbs and creating a device that is suitable for compressing the used herbs into pellets along with crest seeds, suitable for growth or compost. The project strives to create a zero waste cycle in which it follows the circular economies principles.
Our
Directions The Push Pop Device:
The R Pot:
This device takes the herbs from the tea bag and compresses them at the push of a button. The push pop turns the herbs into a compostable disc with the ability to add seeds for plantery growth.
The R Pot is a plant pot created from paper pulp that is made from the blended tea bags and mixed with water. The R cup has the ability to be recycled or composted due to the value of the material.
The T Cup: This cup will be made of a combination of the tea bag and recycled HDPE. This cup will be a takeaway reusable cup for on the go and at home.
The R Pot
The R Pot
The R Pot
The R Pot - Early sketches
The R Pot - Trail and Error The R pot started out with a lot of experimentation, to begin with the used tea bag were mixed with cornstarch, vinegar and glucose. This first experiment failed as seen on the left but what was learnt from this failure was that the mixture need to harden. For the next test, as a result of the first, baking powder and PVA glue was added to cornstarch and used tea bags, creating a hardened clay pot seen on the left. The project had the aim of being recyclable and these tests didn’t represent this aim, so for the final test the used tea bags were separated from the herbs and blended with water creating a paper pulp. This pulp was then poured onto a sieve and drained. The drained pulp was then left to dry creating a paper sheet
The R Pot - The process
As a result of the experimentation the project uses the paper pulp as a base material and is compressed into a plant pot mould and left to dry for approximately 2 weeks with out pressure drying or any other guidance. A wooden base was constructed for better structure and aesthetically purposes.
The R Pot
The R Pot: The R Pot is a plant pot created from paper pulp that is made from the blended tea bags and mixed with water. The R cup has the ability to be recycled or composted due to the value of the material. The pot sits within a wooden structure held up by copper piping, this gives the plant pot integrity and contrast. This concept is how I have chosen to present my work. The R pot design is just an example of what you can use this material for.
The T Cup
The T Cup
The T Cup
The T Cup - Early sketches
The T Cup - Trail and Error The T cup began by mixing the separated tea bags with PLA cut off’s from previous 3D prints. Due to poor planning and lack of equipment this test was more of a learning curve to see whether the plastic would fuse with the tea bags, which it did. The next test, with better equipment was done by taking the used tea bags and the herbs and mixing them with a recycled milk bottle. The plastic was heated in a toasty machine layered with grease proof paper, to stop the plastic sicking. This test failed as the plastic couldn’t get hot enough and resulted in the plastic not melting. As a result of the previous experiment, This final test involved taking a metal mould placing it in the oven at 210 degrees and adding the recycled bottle lids as they melted. Due to the previous test RHDPE lids were used instead as they are easier to melt. The tea bags and herbs were also added whilst the plastic was melting. The melted plastic was compressed but due to lack of mould release agent the plastic hardened and resulted in the mould getting stuck, but this test was beneficial as the plastic fused with the tea bags and herbs.
The T Cup - The process
This is the process of creating the T cup. The recycled HDPE lids are placed with in the aluminium mould. The cup is heated to 210 degrees, whilst the mould heats up the HDPE melts making room to add more lids. Whilst the plastic was melting the tea bags where shredded and slowly added to the plastic to create a stronger material. As a result of the tests, once the plastic had melted it was left to cool and cut out of its mould. The cup was turned on a lathe and cleaned up giving the final aesthetics.
The T Cup
The T Cup: This cup will be made of a combination of the tea bag and Recycled HDPE. This cup will be a takeaway reusable cup for on the go and at home. This concept is how I have chosen to present my work. The T cup design is just an example of what you can use this material for.
The Push Pop
The Push Pop
The Push Pop
The Push Pop - Early sketches
The Push Pop - Trail and Error
The Push pop started out as a cardboard arm stuck to a KFC gravy pot, This model was to see how the push pop’s mechanism would work. This led the push pop to be developed into a cardboard mock up to see how the pellet mould would be released from the main body. Once the mock up had be made and tested, a prototype was created from reused wood stuck together and rounded of on the lathe. The prototype was drilled into and cut using a dremil to create the opening for the pellet mould. The prototype was then used to create the metal components from foam. Once the foam models had been tested, cleaner, sharper foam models where made ready for the aluminium casting. After the aluminium parts where cast, the push pops main body was constructed from recycled pine and varnished using tung oil.
The Push Pop - The process
This is the process in which the user will interact with the push pop. Firstly the tea herbs are placed in the pellet mould. The mould is then inserted into the push pop and compressed manually once the user has pushed down on the top of push pop. The user can then choose to compress seeds into the pellet or take the mould out and place the herbs in the compost or plantery.
The Push Pop
The Push Pop Device: This device takes the herbs from the tea bag and compresses them at the push of a button. The push pop turns the herbs into a compostable disc with the ability to add seeds for either educational purposes or for ready at home growth in a plantery or plant pot. This concept is how I have chosen to present my work. The push pop design is just an example of what you can do to be able to reuse the left over tea herbs.
References Cbenvironmental (n.d). Facts about our environment. Retrieved from https://www.cbenvironmental.co.uk/docs/ Recycling%20Activity%20Pack%20v2%20.pdf?pwm=2416#:~:text=The%20UK%20produces%20more%20 than,and%20deepest%20lake%20in%20England! Netwaste. (n.d). What can’t we recycle? Retrieved from https://www.netwaste.org.au/recycle-it/what-can-berecycled/ Richards, M. (2017). Items we don’t recycle. Retrieved from https://www.buschsystems.com/resource-center/page/ things-you-should-be-recycling-but-arent Toowoomba region (2020). Commercial and domestic waste. Retrieved from https://www.tr.qld.gov.au/ environment-water-waste/waste-recycling/waste-facilities-rubbish-tips/7413-what-is-domestic-waste RHS (n.d). MUSA banana tree growth. Retrieved from: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=311 Gardening know how (n.d) Tea growth. Retrieved from: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/tea-plant/ harvesting-tea-plants.htm#:~:text=It%20takes%20about%202%20years,become%20a%20tea%20leaf%20producer. The Irish times (2019) Mircoplastics in tea bags. Retrieved from: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ single-plastic-tea-bag-can-shed-billions-of-microplastic-particles-study-1.4032255#:~:text=The%20researchers%20 from%20McGill%20University,nanoplastic%20particles%20into%20the%20cup.
Picture References Monterey bay (n.d). Retrieved from: https://www.herbco.com/p-1046-chamomile-bulk-tea-bags.aspx Chefs kitchen. (n.d). Tea bags. [Photograph]. Retrieved from: https://www.abcschoolsupplies.ie/product/chefs-kitchen-tea-bags-original-blend-600-pieces-one-cup-tea
Email: oliverrowan13@gmail.com Phone: 07557 538805