Making materials from native vegetables

For her graduation project, Dutch designer Naomi Remijn developed various materials made from native vegetables.

The use of native vegetables has several advantages. Firstly, since they are grown locally, no materials have to be imported, which is of course positive for the material’s carbon footprint. A local material also has economic advantages. Lastly, materials made from natural resources are more sustainable than petroleum based ones.

The used vegetables do not have to be perfect, which means that vegetables can be used that are no longer suitable for consumption, and some of the materials can be made of parts that are not eaten anyway.

For her project, Remijn focused on primordial carrot and salsify. With these vegetables, she developed textile dye, a vegan leather alternative, which she used to make a chair, paint, used to make a painting, and paper, which Remijn used to make a poster.

“My materials show how close we are to a world with sustainable materials,” Remijn says. “This project is the start of a wider material research and the materials that are produced so far are not perfect yet. But it shows the possibilities for the future.”

If you are interested in helping Remijn to further develop the materials, please contact her through her website here.

Photos: Naomi Remijn