Chitofoam and plastic-eating mealworms as Styrofoam solution, diamond made from ranch dressing, cannabis car, and more: The Digest’s Top 8 Innovations for the week of March 16th
#3 Designers make Styrofoam alternative from exoskeletons of Styrofoam-eating mealworms
In Brooklyn, Charlotte Böhning and Mary Lempres of design studio doppelgänger have developed a process to convert the exoskeletons of mealworms into an alternative for Styrofoam.
Dubbed chitofoam, the material is lightweight, water resistant and can be used for food packaging or molded into shapes for everyday items like cups and packing peanuts. The solution is truly circular since the mealworms in question can safely eat Styrofoam.
“In our studio, we began to dispose of our modeling foam and packaging waste in a homemade mealworm biodigester for depolymerization,” the two designers tell Design Boom. “As material developers and designers, we began to collect the exoskeletons that our plastic-eating worms shed and extracted a biopolymer gel called chitosan. After much development, we created a lightweight, water-resistant, shock-absorbing and backyard-compostable packaging material analogous to Styrofoam. We are in the process of pushing our replacement ‘chitofoam’ further by reimagining packaging and designing more efficient, lattice-structured forms for preserving and protecting products.”
According to a Stanford University study in 2015, 100 mealworms can eat 40 milligrams of Styrofoam a day. Approximately 25 billion Styrofoam cups are discarded annually in the US.
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