Foam For Material Activists - Laura Velgersdijk

Foam bioplastics made from gelatin and honey.

How can a lightweight renewable material source be used to protect heavy and fragile products during transport?

Weight is an important aspect of the transport industry and extra weight from packaging is kept at a minimum. This is why packaging is often made from plastics since they are a lightweight material. The material for the packaging is usually used once and then discarded. I wanted to find a more environmentally friendly alternative for the disposable plastics and choose to try this by using bioplastics as a substitute.

I wanted to make a new material made from bioplastic that is lightweight and possibly stretchable. I found this in a bioplsatic made from gelatin and honey. This 'Honeyfoam' bioplastic is a thicker, stronger and more stretchable bioplastic.

Research zine on issuu

https://issuu.com/makingasresearch/docs/laura_project_researchzine01

Bio

My name is Laura Velgersdijk. I am a 4th year industrial design engineering student at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam. I wanted to follow this minor so I could spend more time making and learning how to make. I had never worked on bioplastics before this minor but I have grown very fond of the entire proces and all the possibilities there are with them.