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 has created a range of packaging from a plant called soft rush
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.
The collection includes a five stacked boxes made from soft rush pith
Kwaning has demonstrated the plant's various uses by using the material to create a noodle-like packing material, packaging...