Amaya Crichton, GMD
My SIP, Sea Jelly, is very much a passion project, one where I allow myself to make mistakes, and learn in the process, without the pressure of hitting arbitrary monetary goals. But it’s also one I wanted to do well, and honestly. I feel like the ultimate goal for any designer is to make something authentic and true to yourself Before starting Sea Jelly I was well aware of the concept of ‘greenwashing’- I think we all are: the blatant H&M ads and how words like ‘natural’ and ‘eco’ keep getting bigger and more prominent on packaging, as if the words themselves aren't murky and promise nothing. To be completely honest with myself, I think a small part of me almost encouraged greenwashing, the way that brands were somehow more focused on becoming more environmentally friendly even if it’s just for marketing, and some will do close to no change. And maybe it just made me feel better, or that I was doing something because the box of q-tips said it was made of cardboard or something, and 99% of the ingredients were natural. As if mercury isn’t natural and can give me brain damage. I digress. In a meeting with Rebecca Lardeur, a Materials Future lecturer in CSM, she completely changed my vision. She explained how there is a significant difference in ‘home-compost’, ‘compostable’, and ‘biodegradable’. That those bottles in Natura that say they are ‘biodegradable’, or the ‘I’m not Plastic’ straws and plastic bags can only decompose in industrial compost facilities and high temperatures. But here’s the kicker: very few exist in the UK, so probably all those ‘bioplastics’ are currently in those landfills we thought they wouldn’t end up in, turning into a toxic sludge. In an exercise with Kelly Hall for the NJAS brief, we began looking at competitors. While I searched up biodegradable accessories, the only thing I could find were these earrings made from a ‘biodegradable resin’, named PLA. However, on closer inspection PLA was one of these cases where they are only ‘biodegradae in special conditions’. And according to some, even if decomposed, PLA is essentiallyan acid, it will damage surrounding areas by changing the PH. Products I would have previously applauded for their eco-forwardness now left me feeling cheated. That If I scratched below the surface the whole product was a farce. It made me feel so disillusioned that we really weren’t improving our environmental impact, just lying to ourselves and others. Sea Jelly was the real test to see if we could implement these ideals. Spoiler: There were many, many frustrating dead ends, and will continue to be in the future. Even something as simple as pigments for the cardholders felt exhausting. After the initial tests with natural colourings not working, we looked at traditional pigments, which are made from rock & minerals. However, these cannot decompose into the environment, so cannot be considered biodegradable. Acrylic is melted plastic, so that was a no-go. Mica, a cheap and brilliant pigment seemed like a great solution, until reading into the production, the mining is being done mostly by children, creating a very problematic industry. We also looked into London Pigments, and although a promising lead, a lot of the pigments have metals, where we run into the original problem, but exacerbated since metal back into the earth can cause some issues. Even their fully biodegradable options were made from beetles, which meant we couldn’t consider ourselves vegan. When we finally landed on our biodegradable pigments (powdered beetroot, chlorella, butterfly pea tea etc.), the issue of sourcing came into play. Where do these companies source these products, are they responsible and ethical? Do they pay a fair wage and how far do they have to be shipped? Same thing with the choice of packaging, paper and inks we use. Even looking into the seaweed we used, we had to avoid sourcing from Morocco, where the overproduction had caused serious damage. The list of things to take into account and improve seemed endless and exhausting. It really put into perspective how easy it is to go for what’s cheap, easy and convenient and sprinkle a lot of green promisings on top and call it a day. And yet, I think we came to the realization that there is something vitally important in sharing that information and to try and be as transparent as possible. Truthfully, there will always need to be improvements: the science may change, the suppliers, data or cost. The importance of our own agency to showcase transparency on where we are and our goals to improve are paramount to change. To take responsibility and to be held accountable. I think this SIP has radically changed my view on business and design. The forefront of your work doesn’t always have to be perfected and spotless, because it rarely is, and by denying ourselves the space to showcase honestly where we need to improve, we invite compromise, looking the other way and inadvertently stagnate change. For future ambitions I hope I take this view with me, and not get sucked up into a soulless practice. It’s a habit I believe needs to be cultured personally to set the standard collectively. I truly believe that this transparent culture of communication, breeds a brighter future. If we are so caught up in trying to buy the perfect eco-product, and those companies are so keen on selling it to you, even if it’s not true, we’re not getting anywhere. Being environmentally friendly inherently is flawed- you’re friendly, not perfect, and we shouldn’t pretend that products are either. Refrences: Fairs, M. (2019) Bioplastics could be "just as bad if not worse" for the planet than fossil-fuel plasticsAvailable at: https://www.dezeen.com/2019/04/15/bioplastics-bad-environment-damage-arthur-huang/ (11.03.22). Muniyasamy, Sudhakar & Ofosu, Osei & John, Maya & Anandjiwala, Rajesh. (2016). Mineralization of Poly (lactic acid)(PLA), Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate)(PHBV) and PLA/PHBV Blend in Compost and Soil Environments. Journal of Renewable Materials. 4. 133-145.
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