(Archive) What A Waste

Rethinking Waste: This Is OurCarbon

Reshaping our material streams will require rethinking what we consider to be a 'waste.' This exhibit showcases a new material created from sustainably transformed wasted organics, such as food waste and sewage sludge, called OurCarbon. Created through a three step process, OurCarbon shows how carbon negative materials can and will take the place of our fossil fuel intensive standard methods of production.

The Three Step Process

In order to produce OurCarbon, first organic waste is diverted from environmentally harmful disposal sites such as landfills. This prevents greenhouse gas emissions from emitting as these organics breakdown in anaerobic conditions. The organics are then dried and carbonized in a passive process using Bioforcetech's proprietary technology. During this process, the carbon in the organics is fixed in place for thousands of years, never to emit as greenhouse gas. OurCarbon is then applied to industry in ways that maximize the material's benefits while replacing fossil fuel intensive equivalents. Here, further emissions are prevented and a new material stream is created.

Design Applications of OurCarbon

The design works shown in this exhibit have been created by a vibrant community of designers from across the United States. Each design profiles an application for OurCarbon and focuses on the concept of re-using waste. Together, this effort seeks to help us question what a waste it has been producing and throwing away products in a cycle of consumption for the past century, and what potential our 'waste' materials have to change these practices.