A World Without Plastic Waste: generating sustainable packaging ideas from nature
Read the entire article at Synapse.
It’s estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. That’s one of many haunting statistics that makes it clear that plastic and packaging waste is a pressing global challenge that won’t be solved without sustainable innovation and collaboration across industries.
That’s why we are proud to make our new Biomimicry + Packaging Innovation Toolkit available to the public. The toolkit is a new resource that brings people together, and then guides players through a brainstorming process that helps them gain experience in generating sustainable packaging innovation ideas from nature.
“We needed to create opportunities for people to experience what it’s like to generate ideas from nature, even when we couldn’t be there in person,” Biomimicry 3.8 co-founder Dr. Dayna Baumeister told Sustainable Brands reporter Nithin Coca during a workshop where the toolkit made it’s debut.
During the workshop, teams were given toolkit concept boards, brainstorming sheets, and Nature’s Technology Summary cards from the Biomimicry Brainstorming-in-a-Box card deck that include biological strategies from mentor organisms with high relevance to the packaging realm. Riffler cards then help spark ideas by proposing a host of solution concepts the biological strategies could yield.
The toolkit was developed for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Economy 100 (CE100) Collaborative Project initiative in collaboration with Biomimicry 3.8 and CE100 members Dell and Heineken. EMF’s CE100 program allows members to work together in a pre-competitive space so they can tackle big problems like plastic packaging waste and “realize their circular economy ambitions faster.”
Drawing from an impressive CE100 list, Collaborative Projects (Co.Projects) bring together member teams to collaborate on a focused challenge. Workshops are held twice a year so teams and challenges can be brainstormed and set.
This Co.Project aimed to develop a toolkit to support individuals or teams across all industries as they work to better meet circular design goals for packaging. The Biomimicry 3.8 staff spearheaded the project, eventually creating this free toolkit that helps drive a circular design ideation process through biomimicry.
