Sustainable Printing Process Brings Grace of Waste To Life —& The Furoshiki That Cleans Oceans
by Shawn Binder on 03/02/2020 | 2 Minute Read
Less nets in the ocean, more furoshiki in the world, please! This stylish and reusable gift wrap makes a powerful, yet understated statement.
Around 40% of the plastic produced worldwide is needed for packaging and is usually only used once. Oftentimes, it ends up as waste in the oceans, where it forms floating islands of trash called garbage patches. Grace of Waste is making an effort to raise awareness to this issue amongst our business partners and motivate them to do their part to recycle more.
We were inspired by an ancient Japanese tradition. In Japan, gifts are often wrapped in a furoshiki – a traditional textile that is used and reused again and again. Our furoshiki does even more. It is made from recycled ocean plastic and conveys a coded message.
At first glance, the pattern printed on the cloth is just an attractive design, but upon closer examination you can see that it illustrates the location of the garbage patches in the world's oceans. We hope this will encourage people to think about the issue – and pass the information on when they reuse the cloth as gift-wrapping.
Our Furoshiki helps to reduce ocean pollution by using a material comprised of 57% recycled polyester recovered from plastic waste in the oceans.
Dot screen printing uses up to 30% less ink than solid printing.
We distributed the furoshiki accompanied by a poster and a card explaining this background information and providing tips on how to use the fabric to avoid packaging.
Algae are a rapidly renewable, almost inexhaustible raw material. For the poster, greeting card and outer packaging, we have used a special paper made partly from sea algae.
We have used a Japanese printing process called ‘risography’ that is particularly resource-saving, with inks based on soya oil and water. In addition, energy input is significantly lower compared to conventional printing techniques.
A Furoshiki is not only a sustainable alternative, it also adds a personal touch to every gift. The cloth’s variety of uses offers something for everybody.
Our world is a delicate and dynamic system, in which small changes can have long-term effects. We show this relationship by depicting how small changes to graphical elements result in the formation of larger continents and ocean currents.
- Designer: Peter Schmidt Group
- Executive Creative Director: Norbert Moeller
- Creative Director: Ulrich Aldinger
- Japan Representative: Shingo Inoue
- Design Director: Sven Franke
- Senior Designer: David Driscoll
- Designer: Regina Huber
- Designer: Felix Koch
- Designer: Sophie Kueppers
- Designer: Marie Scheffzuek
- Designer: Laura Ullmann
- Illustrator: Kyonosuke Takayasu
- Head of Production: Tobias Gagelmann
- Producer: Tobias Woerdekemper
- Senior Project Manager: David Gottschalk
- Copywriter: Hana Licina
- Copywriter: Guido Schroepel