Biodegradable coffee cups being 'grown' in bid to cut down on plastic waste

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From https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/17/biodegradable-coffee-cups-grown-bid-cut-plastic-waste/

Biodegradable coffee cups being 'grown' in bid to cut down on plastic waste

By Telegraph Reporters
17 MARCH 2019 • 7:57PM



The reusable cups are made from gourds, a fruit in the pumpkin family, which are grown inside 3D printed moulds to make them the perfect coffee-cup shape when picked.

The fast-growing squashes were used by our ancestors as drinking containers, and thanks to their waxy outer shell, can be dried out and used to hold liquids.

The architecture and design company, Creme, now grow cup and flask-shaped gourds at a farm near New York, USA, but started out by testing the moulds in their studio in Brooklyn, New York.

[...]

From https://www.metropolismag.com/design/industrial-design/biodegradable-coffee-cup/

This Biodegradable Coffee Cup Was Made With a Gourd and a 3D-Printed Mold

An astounding 50 billion of those paper cups per year will end up in U.S. landfills because their material cannot be recycled or composted.

Anna Zappia
July 25, 2018



For many Americans, a take-out cup of coffee heralds the start of each workday. However, an astounding 50 billion of those paper cups per year will end up in U.S. landfills because their material cannot be recycled or composted.

Hoping to solve this problem, architect Jun Aizaki, founder of Brooklyn-based design firm CRÈME / Jun Aizaki, wanted to find a sustainable carryout alternative and looked to nature for inspiration. After some trial and error with delicate materials like rice paper, he settled on gourds, the fleshy fruits known for their strong outer skin. “I kept thinking about biodegradable materials,” says Aizaki. “Gourds have been used as vessels in Asia and South America for centuries.”

The drinking vessels are sourced from a local farm where cucurbits—a type of gourd—find their form by growing into 3D-printed molds. The method is still being refined; currently, only about half of each harvest can produce viable containers because many gourds either rot during the drying process or won’t grow properly in the molds.

For Aizaki, though, working with the whims of nature—and the unique variations that result—is what makes the process exciting: “Each piece is different, almost like a collector’s item.”

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[Sherman A1]

1. That's using the old

Gourd!

Seriously, it does sound like a good idea at least to try.

[mopinko]

2. you can compost paper.

i do it all the time. bogus.
and they can certainly be made more compostable.

it doesnt seem efficient to me to grow an entire fruit for a coffee cup.
but hey, i'm all for tryin it out.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Why not use regular gourds that don't have to be specially grown?

Farmers' markets are full of decorative gourds this time of year, and the trendier coffee shops could use them for some unique marketing.