Paper or Plastic?

As a landscape architect, I am always thinking about how the natural world can play a larger role in our urban environments. Obviously trees and parks are the primary methods that come to mind.  But I recently came across an article in Architect Magazine that examined the role cellulose could potentially play in our urban environments...that is, in the role we currently see played by conventional plastics.

Conventional plastics are inexpensive and can be found everywhere.  Site furniture, play structures, and decking are just a few of the items I immediately think about with practical use in landscape architecture.  If these items were replaced with an 'environmentally persistent compound' that provided ecological benefit, there could be vast improvements concerning the vitality of our urban environments.

This new product, created by Zeoform, is made of nothing more than recycled paper waste and water. Zeoform mimics the characteristics of plastic and wood and can be molded, routed, sanded, engraved, and laser-cut into about any shape you could imagine.


Image courtesy of Zeoform.

There are a few questions I have been thinking about.  With this material being biodegradable and made of cellulose and water, is there a high potential for the material to loose its structural qualities and acquire mold? The product is "a combination of fiber entanglement and hydroxyl bonding" but how will this hold up to the everyday wear and tear in the urban environment?

I am excited to see how this product will play out.  Like Ecovative Design's Mushroom Materials (see past blog post), These are the types of innovations we like to see here at The Sharp End of the Green Stick!