Utilising zero-value waste textiles and fibres with design-driven technologies to create high quality products
Finland, with its densely rich forests and scattered islands, provided the perfect backdrop to workshop 09 in its capital, Helsinki. Hosted by Aalto University over a period of three days, workshop 09 was based at The Design Museum in the historic centre and at Espoo, a stunning tree covered campus.
Trash 2 Cash’s Becky Earley (UAL) and Rosie Hornbuckle (UAL) presented the Silence Shirts project - a collaborative research methodology experiment undertaken during T2C workshops - at the INTERSECTIONS 2017 conference exploring collaboration in textile design research.
In the latest T2C podcast, Professor Becky Earley catches Cansu Musaoğlu, head of the dyeing department at Turkish textile producer and T2C partner Söktaş, just before she departs for her new position at a private university in Istanbul.
Recorded upon the conclusion of T2C Workshop 8 in Bilbao, Spain, Becky and Cansu discuss the drivers of sustainability for Söktaş, the importance of sustainability to their customers and how Design Driven Material Innovation (DDMI) has given Söktaş’ R&D department a completely new perspective and approach.
T2C partner and host of the next T2C workshop in Helsinki, Aalto Arts are celebrating the launch of a new biomaterial-focused publication Lost in the Wood(s), a new Biomateriality in Finland with a seminar event at Design Museum Helsinki next month.
Trash 2 Cash research innovations by partners Cidetec were presented at the MATCOMP 2017 congress in San Sebastian, Spain (21-23 June)
At the end of May T2C researcher Professor Rebecca Earley attended the Autex International Textiles conference 2017, themed 'Shaping the Future of Textiles'. The venue was in sunny Corfu, where 412 delegates met over three days to see 309 papers and 118 posters.
Between 4-9 April 2017 Material Connexion Italia (MCI) presented the work of Trash-2-Cash at the Milan Design Fair.
This year’s “Materials Village” focused on the theme “New Materials for a Smart City” [with the patronage of the Municipality of Milan] and featured a dedicated booth for T2C including the first material samples to emerge from the project.
T2C partners Aalto Chem presented their research earlier this month at a meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). You can see the full press conference with Simone Haslinger and Dr Michael Hummel on YouTube, or read on for the ACS account of the event.
3-4 April 2017, Stockholm
Last year a team from Finland (including T2C partners Aalto University and VTT, alongside University of Helsinki) won the Global Change Award (GCA), an annual innovation challenge organised by the H&M foundation*.
In the latest T2C podcast, researcher Gustav Sandin explains how the Lifecycle Assessment tool can be used to determine the impact of everyday products like jeans or hospital gowns, services like clothing libraries, or processes like the washing of clothes.
It’s about understanding the entire context of the product or service, not just the materials they’re made from. Gustav’s work identifies where the hot spots are, and how these might be managed out to make a real and measurable difference.
Exploring Design-Science Material Innovation Partnerships
Materials research has developed rapidly in recent years, in both the scientific field and through design exploration. Design-science collaborations are emerging which create new directions and conversations in materials development. Outlooks and mindsets are changing through these collaborations to challenge traditional approaches and established disciplinary boundaries.
The aim of this one-day seminar was to explore new ways of thinking by inviting existing design and science collaborators to present their work together, from their own unique perspectives.
Dynamic Duos was curated within the context of the Trash-2-Cash (T2C) project which aims to apply a ‘design-driven’ approach to the development of new, regenerated textile fibres.
In November 2016, over 100 designers, researchers and scientists gathered at the Tate Britain in London to brainstorm the fashion industry's approach to the Circular Economy revolution. We've created a Storify, in the words of those who were there (through the lens of the Trash-2-Cash project).
Go to Storify to read.
‘Cellulose Spaghetti’ is the latest Trash-2-Cash podcast, and the first to feature one of our science partners.
Dr Michael Hummel is part of the Aalto Chem team working on chemically dissolving waste to produce new, high quality textile fibres. The Ioncell-F process they’ve developed won last year’s Global Change Award, and Michael explains more about the process, and potential impact in the podcast.
In our latest podcast, Prof Becky Earley catches up with Matilda Laitila - an R&D Project Manager at cool Finnish Children’s brand Reima. For more than 70 years Reima has been supplying cosy clothing encouraging people to play outdoors, no matter the weather.
This autumn marks the introduction of the international Circular Transitions conference, focusing on textile design and the circular economy. The conference coincides with the 6th T2C workshop and provides a unique opportunity for the first findings to be presented to a design audience.
The contribution from Trash-2-Cash researchers demonstrates the diverse range of topics being investigated around the idea of ‘developing circular materials’.
Copenhagen was strangely sultry for mid-September. Each morning as we walked/metro-ed/uber-ed our way to Copenhagen Business School the sun was warmly uplifting. But later it became uncomfortably sticky until the cool evenings swept in - this unseasonal weather pattern set the tone for our latest meeting...
In our new podcast, Tina Mueller of Copenhagen Business School explains why the Intention-Behaviour gap is important in understanding consumer perceptions of recycled goods. To learn more about social marketing and sustainability research from the customer's perpective, go to iTunes or Soundcloud to listen. Don't forget to subscribe so you receive all new episodes automatically!
Each Trash-2-Cash (T2C) project workshop brings new challenges for the methodology team. Planning the activities that will inform the design-science interactions is, in itself, an experiment in collaborative design process. We start by sharing ideas around key objectives for the workshop, identify challenges to address, and decide which methods or tools would be most appropriate to use...
Here at Trash-2-Cash, we love podcasts. We like funny ones, serious ones, and inspiring ones.
We like hearing people talk about their passions, and the opportunity to delve deeper than a blog post allows. So, we decided to start podcasting too...
During the Milan workshop, Professor Becky Earley (UAL) sat down with Julie Hornix (VanBerlo) to talk social design, megatrends, and summer reading recommendations. You can download the podcast on iTunes or Soundcloud now!
We’ve come back from WS04 in Milan with an overwhelming feeling that this can work...
Workshop 04 (WS04) is almost upon us and Milan in May promises to be everything that Helsinki in March (WS03) was not: warm with a strong technical front moving in from the east...
Most suitcases are destined for a life of seclusion, at the back of wardrobes, on luggage stands in hotel rooms, in the bellies of buses and planes… the conveyer in baggage reclaim must be liberating by comparison.
But not our suitcase; he has a very special vocation...
Workshop planning is an adaptive learning process, both in the period between workshops where the methodology team can apply lessons learnt from the previous workshop, and within the workshop itself; the design must be flexible and able to respond to the situation as it unfolds...
Super-luxurious, forever recyclable, durable and robust. Think we're talking about Polyester? Yes, we are...
Just before the Christmas break Aalto Arts hosted a workshop with the renowned Design Innovation Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Roberto Verganti. The workshop looked at how ‘innovation of meaning’ is used by designers to create products that people really want, such as the Nintendo Wii or the iPhone, bringing huge commercial success...
Over the next few months we’ll introduce you to some of the people and organisations in the T2C consortium. Today we have a blog post from Marjaana Tanttu, a PhD student at Aalto University in Finland...
Emma Östmark, Christian Turbito and Becky Earley have been working hard behind the scenes over the last month, preparing for workshop two (WS2) of the Trash-2-Cash (T2C) project. The two-day workshop will be held at the prestigious Prato Textile Museum in Italy on 24 and 25 November, hosted by Enrico Cozzoni from Grado Zero. At the event we’re aiming to introduce design thinking techniques to inform and influence the science and technology work that follows...
There are 18 partners involved in the Trash-2-Cash (T2C) project, so it’s important we gather periodically for workshops to take advantage of the vast knowledge of the group. SP in Stockholm hosted the very first workshop on 22 and 23 September, where we talked about all of our different roles and the importance of a coherent approach for the next three and a half years of T2C...