The Value of Waste: Coffee
Academy Minerva
“The Value of Waste: Coffee” by Malissa Geersing
Malissa presented her material research on coffee grounds waste in a well designed poster, that clearly explained her extensive material research on coffee grounds as a source for everyday products and sculptural objects. Malissa’s poster gave a very clear insight into her research process: a process that started with research on the coffee production chain - from growing coffee beans to the coffee grounds that end up as ‘waste’ after making coffee. Secondly, the poster explained how she combined coffee grounds with different types of resources, the outcomes of which informed various designs for products and objects. The jury especially appreciated the recipes that Malissa included for an audience to reproduce her research. This is a very effective and practical way to share your knowledge and validate your research outcomes.
The Energize GasTerra Award Jury
The Value of Waste: Coffee
The Value of waste: coffee was created in an Off course bio-based materials. During the course I asked myself the following research questions. Where does Coffee come from? Can I make the lifeline longer? What are the possibilities?
First I wanted to try to make ceramic out of coffee grain completely
bio-based. Because of the fibres in the coffee grain it’s very easy to
bind the material with a kind of glue or clay.
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I made a salt and flour based clay and I wanted to see if I
could replace the flour with coffee grain. I made a couple of
experiments every time with a little bit more flour. When I scoured one of the experiments the texture that appeared was very interesting. From the clay I created a cup that can be used as a coffee cup for a couple of times by applying different kind of oils onto the cup. The oils are giving the coffee a different kind of taste. Making the coffee more rich of flavour. After a couple of times the cup can be used as a pot for the fertilisation of a plant into the ground.
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Next I experimented with a paste made with sugar I created a vase
from the paste with coffee grain. The paste turns into a kind of plastic. The result is completely bio-based and is very sensitive to water.
The research and design were recognized by the Energize GasTerra Jury and got an“Honorary Mention” The product was also published in the book “A sense of green”.
Year - 2015
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