Italian sustainable design practice High Society designed a series of lamp shades made from by-products of beer and coffee production.

To make the lights, High Society teamed up with Hausbrand, a renowned Italian coffee manufacturer, and local beer brewing factories to collect the waste materials.

Made from silver-skin (the peal of the coffee been) and other coffee waste, as well as barley and hop leftovers, the long tubular lamps have an irregular shape. Called Senilia, the wrinkled, bumped and draped shapes appear to be malleable, but are actually rigid.

“The collection embodies a conceptual approach to materiality in terms of its essence, exploring the meaning of aging,” High Society states. “All living organisms obey natural laws and are as such subject to constant change. As our body structure alters with time, in the same way, the wrinkled and bumped light shapes aim to reflect those alterations.”

Showing a possible alternative against virgin and recycled plastics, the lampshades are fully biodegradable and recyclable. For other lamps by High Society, click here.

Photos: High Society