“Nature is the first producer of packaging in the world: every peel, shell or skin aims to protect its content,” writes Bruno Munari in his book Good Design, a quote that inspired Italian designer Emma Sicher to explore eco-friendly food packaging alternatives in her project From Peel to Peel.
The project makes use of microbial cellulose, a material obtained by fermenting bacteria and yeast with leftover fruits and vegetables. This yields wet layers of pure cellulose which, when oxidized, turn into sheets of a translucent material resembling a mix of leather, paper and plastic, depending on the surface they’re dried on. Sicher experimented with the potential shapes, colors and textures she could get out of the fiber-based sheets, ending up with an impressive array of prototypes: bag-like containers for sugar packets, candy wrapping and flour bags made from potatoes; street food trays and cups from grape and beetroots; tea bags from apple peels. The possibilities seem endless…
“Most food gets packaged in materials that are engineered to last forever, and most of the food has a short life cycle in comparison to its containers,” Sicher reflects. “By developing a packaging that follows the natural principle of acting as a peel for its content, the aim is to get closer to nature again by providing a more sustainable alternative to what is currently offered by the food industry.” Read more on the project here.
Images © Emma Sicher / with permission