Designer Alice Potts combined food waste with flowers from London parks to create a series of bioplastic face shields for the NGV Triennial.
Potts made the face shields, which she claims are biodegradable, from food waste collected in London as an alternative to the many items of personal protective equipment (PPE) that are made from single-use plastic.
Named Dance Biodegradable Personal Protective Equipment (DBPPE) Post Covid Facemasks, the face shields will be on show at the NGV Triennial at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
Alice Potts created a face shield dyed with purple iris and walnut husk
The designer created 20 face shields for the triennial that each have a 3D-printed top section combined with a biodegradable, bioplastic shield. The colour and exact structure of each shield is dependant on the food it is made from and the flowers it is dyed with. "The food waste is the base, and type of colour depends on the type of waste thrown out," Potts told Dezeen. "This is normally collected by me from local food markets, butchers and households."
"Most vegetables can be made into the dyes with fruits acting as a natural sugar for flexibility in the bioplastic, whereas proteins can be used to give strength to the plastic itself," she continued.
"Every colour is completely seasonal depending on what flowers are blooming, what vegetables and fruits are growing and earth that is in and around London."
A pink face shield...