Semifinalist in the 2021 Google Biodesign Sprint
Paper Mache
as a plastic-Free Google Nest enclosure
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Project manager (including researcher, paper mache construction, & videography)
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Sumairha Mumtaz Choudhary, Fatima Salehbhai, Mohsen Ferdosi
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Digital: Photoshop, Canva, Zoom
Physical: Google Nest, screwdrivers, immersion blender
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September - November 2021
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Semifinalist (top 8) in the 2021 Google Biodesign Sprint
Design Prompt
What if product materials were grown instead of manufactured, what if they were derived from waste, repairable, repurposable, responsive, and truly sustainable? What if they could provide benefits to the user or their surroundings? What new materials could be utilized for consumer electronics of the future—from phones and speakers to laptops and more? Invent and apply the materials of the future.
We are an interaction designer, an architect, a mechanical engineer, and a computer scientist. We are Carnegie Mellon graduate students, electronic consumers, and the face of a generation entering a world wreaked by pollution and climate change. We formed a team out of a shared passion to improve technological sustainability.
In the first week, we explored two potential paths - mitigating current waste or changing material compositions. While both areas interested us, the idea of upcycling organic materials and solving the issue from its source - at the beginning of the product life cycle - had fascinating implications. We opted for a preventative approach rather than a reactive measure.
For a professional perspective, we sought the advice of researchers working in sustainability. From Abhay Menon, a sustainable energy engineering researcher in Stockholm and Pranjal Jhaveri, a sustainable product developer based in Gothenburg, we learned that consumer electronics and e-waste are not separable. Separation of electronic component for reuse is quite difficult. Even when Americans try to recycle, 91% of recycled materials end up in landfills.
Plastic can take 10 to 100 years to degrade in landfills. Plastic in landfills is problematic because chemical additives like phthalates and BPA leach out, which disrupt the hormonal system of vertebrates and invertebrates alike. Additionally, nano-sized particles may cause inflammation, traverse cellular barriers, and even cross highly selective membranes such as the blood-brain barrier and placenta.
Plastic’s negative environmental impacts create an opportunity gap that paper waste can fill. In the US, paper products represent the largest portion - 27% - of municipal solid waste (source). In a global view, 17% of all waste is paper and cardboard products (source). Despite the digital revolution, global paper use has increased by 400% in the last 40 years, and in the last 20 years, American paper product usage has grown by 126%. At least 33% of all solid global waste is not managed in an environmentally safe manner. We propose rechanneling this wasted paper to replace plastic in electronic enclosures. Paper mache has a lifespan of around 10 years in cold, humid Himalayan areas, which is beyond the typical 3-5 year lifespan of consumer electronics. It has a high yield strength and resistance to mechanical shocks. Paper and rice both have low electrical and thermal conductivity. Applying varnish makes the material completely water-proof and protected from humidity and moisture.
Plastics typically comprises around 20% of electronic device mass, the great majority of which is used in the outer enclosure casing. We centered our application ideation around Google hardware products, particularly the Google Home and Nest Mini. The outer enclosures of these products are currently made from 35% post-consumer recycled plastic.
Google encourages its customers to drop off old products in labeled boxes, where the company will responsibly recycle the parts. This is awesome, but unfortunately, only 9% of recyclable waste in America is actually recycled (source), and a small percentage of consumers follow proper disposal instructions, so we aimed for a solution that breaks down in landfills gracefully.
We looked at indegnous knowledge systems to find a direction and came across Paper Mache practiced in Kashmir, India. Paper Mache is first documented to be used in China, the country that invented paper itself. It spread to Japan and Persia and eventually to other countries. For centuries, Kashmiri people have created beautiful, lightweight bowls from a special form of paper mache. Kashmiri paper mache is known for its strength and unique material properties.
In their technique, paper is soaked for 4-5 weeks, then dried and powdered, mixed with rice starch for strength, pasted onto molds, and left to dry. The paper mache sculptures are then polished, varnished, and painted.
Research has shown that rice starch from rice straws can be used for coagulation, to form stronger bonds between the pulp’s cellulose fibers.This process can be industrialized by modifying the current paper recycling process, to add the coagulation step. The paste formed can be layered on silicon molds and oven dried.
Paper mache has a lifespan of around 10 years in cold, humid Himalayan areas, which is beyond the typical 3-5 year lifespan of consumer electronics. It has a high yield strength and resistance to mechanical shocks. Paper and rice both have low electrical and thermal conductivity. Applying varnish makes the material completely water-proof and protected from humidity and moisture. We built prototypes to test the mechanical properties at home. We created ten prototypes total, all made from leftover paper-based materials. In our first iteration, we pasted a thin layer of pulp around a bowl to test its ability to hold a curved shape.
Of the 4 variations tested (recycled paper, egg carton, cardboard, and napkin), the napkin prototype was weakest, so we removed it from further testing. In the second iteration, we baked 6 rectangles of paper mache from three materials: Recycled paper Egg carton (Recycled cardboard) Cardboard (was a barilla pasta box)
For each material, we tested a ratio with more water and a ratio with less water.
We then conducted three tests on each: tensile strength, drop resilience, and bending response for our prototypes and actual product from kashmir. We found that all three materials passed the tensile test, both egg carton specimens broke when dropped, and one recycled paper specimen broke during the bend test. Basically, cardboard emerged as the strongest candidate.
To understand how we can utilize the paper mache material for enclosure of electronics we took apart a google nest. In breaking apart a Google Nest, we learned where different components are located, how the PCB is attached, and how the internal speaker is constructed. We realized that by using paper mache, the design would need to support a slightly thicker width to achieve the same strength.
SO, we propose using paper mache instead of the 35% post consumer plastic for the outer enclosures and internal plastic pieces of the Google Nest and Home. This requires some minor edits to the design; the paper mache needs slightly more thickness and a different fastening method, more similar to Japanese wood joinery.
These nests can become an expression of values and artistry.
They would divert paper waste from America, Europe, Oceania, and China. Of course, transportation costs would factor in.
Even though this solution upcycles post-consumer paper, it’s not perfect. Recycled paper takes requires 12,000 gallons of water per ton.” Our solution opens up a whole other field of study - how can we safely break down dyes in recycled paper? Where will the waste water go? Is there a way to process paper mache with less water?
With the advancements in 3D printing technology particularly with food printing tech, papier mache can utilize the future of manufacturing. For the speaker system: Understanding the acoustic properties of the material, it can be carved to have a passive sound amplifying effect which could potentially reduce the space required for speakers in the devices.
