使用杂草制成的家具和包装
Don Kwaning makes furniture and packaging from wetland weed

由专筑网王帅，李韧编译

埃因霍芬设计学院毕业生Don Kwaning使用一种生长迅速的植物灯芯草的髓，设计了一种生态包装。

Kwaning想通过他的“Medulla”项目为灯芯草开发新用途。灯芯草是一种杂草，广泛生长于湿地生境中，如潮湿的林地、沼泽、沟渠和草地，这种草可以从其纤维中分离出有用的东西。

Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Don Kwaning has created an ecological packaging material from the pith of a fast growing plant called soft rush.
Through his Medulla project, Kwaning sought to find new applications for soft rush – a weed, which grows in tufts in wetland habitats like wet woodlands, marshes, ditches and grassland – by separating the pith from the fibres.


Don Kwaning使用“灯芯草”设计了一系列包装／Don Kwaning has created a range of packaging from a plant called soft rush

每年，荷兰的国家林业部门都要清除数千公斤的杂草，然后将其发酵转化成沼气。除此之外，这种植物还被用来改善含有农业种植的沙土地。

Kwaning发现这种纤维可以制成像纸一样的材料，还有诸如瓦楞纸纸板、绳索、非织造布和纺织品等等，而灯芯草的髓可以用作泡沫材料。

灯芯草髓具备轻质、耐冲击与良好的绝缘性能等一系列特性，这使它非常适合用作生态包装材料，可以应用于包装减震线团或压缩泡沫块。

泡沫髓不需要添加任何粘结剂，可以压缩成不同密度的产品。这使其适合作为一种可用于家具生产的轻质板材料。

Each year in the Netherlands state forestry removes thousands of kilos of the plant, which is then fermented and turned into biogas. Alternatively the fibres are used to improve the structure of agricultural soil that contains a lot of sand.
Kwaning's research found that the fibres can be developed into materials like paper, corrugated cardboard, rope, non-wovens and textiles, while the pith of the soft rush can be used as a foam material.
The pith's lightweight, shock-resistant and insulating properties make it suitable for use as an ecological packaging material that can be applied as tangled noodle strings or as a compressed foam blocks.
The foamy pith doesn't require any bonding additives can be compressed in different densities, which makes it suitable for use as a lightweight sheet material that can be applied in furniture production.


由灯芯草制成的五层箱子／The collection includes a five stacked boxes made from soft rush pith

Kwaning将灯芯草的多种用途发挥得淋漓尽致，他通过使用这种材料制造出类似面条的包装材料、软纤维包装纸、两个包装盒和五个储存箱组成的边桌。

Kwaning说：“有趣的是，你可以用同样的材料制作家具和包装材料，这是来源于同一种材料的不同价值。”

储物箱完全由柔软的灯心草制成。与常用的建筑材料MDF进行比较，Kwaning的轻质薄板材料没有使用粘结剂。

设计师将灯芯草使用较小的压力压缩，形成更轻盈的压缩材料，并用其来制作储存盒。

Kwaning说：“这种盒子是一种生态友好型产品，有望取代聚苯乙烯包装盒。”

Kwaning has demonstrated the plant's various uses by using the material to create a noodle-like packing material, packaging papers made from the soft rush fibres, two packaging boxes and a set of five storage boxes that double as a side table.
"The interesting thing is that you can make furniture and packaging materials from the same material, so low and high value products from the same material," said Kwaning.
The storage boxes are made entirely from compressed soft rush pith. Kwaning compares the lightweight sheet material to a lighter version of the construction material MDF but made without a binder.
The designer compressed the soft rush pith at an even lower density to create a lighter version of the compressed material that he used to make one of the storage boxes.
"This box could be a ecologically friendly replacement of the polystyrene packaging boxes," suggested Kwaning.


“灯芯草”的多种产品／Soft rush can be processed into many forms

第二套包装盒由来源于灯芯草的瓦楞纸板制成。这些盒子内包含了泡沫条，Kwaning认为它们有可能取代聚苯乙烯包装条。

另外，还有其他设计师也探索了一些可持续包装的方法，毕业生Roza Janusz设计了一款有机的替代塑料食品包装，在使用之后即可以食用，也可以自然降解。与此同时，皇家艺术学院毕业生Felix Pöttinger使用洗过的海草制作了可持续的替代塑料食品包装。

The second packaging box is made from a corrugated card made from the soft rush fibres. The box contains foamy strings, which Kwaning said could be a replacement for polystyrene packaging beans.
Other designers exploring ways to create sustainable packaging include graduate Roza Janusz who has created an organic alternative to plastic food packaging that can either be eaten after use, or composted. Meanwhile Royal College of Art student Felix Pöttinger's sustainable alternative to plastic food packaging is made from washed-up seagrass.