Tilt

There is a French proverb which tells a simple story to help explain the phenomena of exponential growth.  The proverb asks us to “imagine that there is a lily pond in our back yard in which the lily’s in the pond double in size each day. If the lily were allowed to grow unchecked, it would completely cover the pond in 30 days, choking out all other forms of life in the water. For a long time, the plant seems small, so you decide not to worry about cutting it back until it covers half the pond. On the 29^th day we have only one day left to act”

This simple narrative clearly demonstrates the need to take action. Some people such as the Environmental scientist James Lovelock already think it’s too late – that Gaia will seek her revenge. But let it not be said that we live in the Age of Stupid. Let us take action, Lobby our politicians put pressure on local MP’s, join local community, social and environmental initiatives, form a coop but most importantly DO SOMETHING!

Here at Tilt, we are a smorgasbord of clever and radical ideas. We have a number of opinions about many parts of the food industry and decided to put these thoughts into action by creating a few innovative sketches on what we think should be placed into the market. Focusing specifically on the ‘to go’ areas of packaging food, our ideas fill the gap where sustainable and eco-friendly packaging should be placed.It’s difficult to travel with produce, particularly soft items like peaches and plums, as they often get squished and messy. In nature, vulnerable items are sometimes protected by an outer pod. A fruit carrying pod helps protect fruit, or other soft items like our Energy Balls, while on the go. A compostable veggie oil plastic or layered weave paper can hold several pieces and either hang or roll up on itself. The perforated individual sections can be pulled off to take one while the others stay fresh! Once empty, the pod can be flattened and stored for future use, or composted!

Fresh food waste is another issue that comes up when trying to eat healthy on the go. We haven’t yet reached the point of compost bins next to public trash bins, but I know I always feel a pang of guilt when I just toss my apple core or orange peel in with the trash. A food pack reversible compost bag offers an alternative. The bag contains your produce, and when finished, you can flip it inside out and put in the cores and peels. Lined with organic material such as paper pulp, your food waste will start its decomposition until you can put it in your home bin or garden. A one way top on the bag keeps the material from falling out once it’s in the compost.
Eating in one’s lap can be messy and clumsy. A snack pack that becomes a tv-style tray can help, particularly when riding in a car or on public transit. Made of pressed paper pulp that is easily compostable, it has flaps that open, reverse under, and reconnect, lending a stable hand to what is now a little plate of food! Simple silverware can be perforated in the flaps to punch out for a little help, particularly if there is a spread involved.

A note on spreads – spreads often come in little pats, like butter, or little disposable jam cups of plastic. But to use spreads one has to have a knife, which is usually made of plastic, and then discarded. Squeezable condiment packages are on the right track, but still leave lots of small waste. Thinking of pastry frosting bags, consider packaging travel spreads, such as chutneys or pesto or even a hummus, in a vegetable oil compostable plastic tube that can be rolled down from the top as it is squeezed onto your bread or veggie snack. When it is done, throw it in the travel compost bag!
We often end up with a lot of packaging waste while on the go, as each item is usually wrapped on its own. A snack package shaped like a ball or flower can contain multiple snacks separately. Attached at the top by a carrying loop, the pack can open outwardly from the center, such as a flower opening or a banana peel, to reveal different choice on each ‘petal’ section. Made of a plant fiber paper pulp shell, with each petal as a kind of pocket, it would be perfect for a variety of dried fruits and nuts. The sturdy shell keeps everything protected while in transport.

The paper pulp shell can also be handy for snacks such as our Cauliflower Popcorn. Mimicking the shape of a head of cauliflower, the package can be flipped, opening the base like a lid. The rounded cauliflower shape is then a bowl to eat the popcorn right out of, easy for passing around, and the lid can be another plate to share with a friend.

We can also consider in-package heating, using natural insulation, such as coconut husks, to keep food warm or cool, and alternatives to wrappings, such as onion skins and banana plant leaves.

To “wrap up,” one can certainly identify the challenges of eating on the go in daily situations. With our handy solutions, we hope that this can spark the inspiration of others to analyze what is missing in everyday practices, and how we can switch to identifying a problem and fixing rather than just compromising.

Packaging for food should have a message, not just a destination. Have you ever noticed the stories on the side of Chipotle cups or to go bags? These items advertise the freshness and the quality of the ingredients used, and I personally think that this is great. The educational aspect to the packaging gives the product more purpose, but other companies are doing even better. Take for instance Otarian, new chain set to open in London and New York. They set sustainability at the forefront, making sure that each consumer understands where the food they are eating has come from, and how the planet is effected in the process of shipping and making the products.

Of course educational packaging is great, but maybe even more important is the idea of less is more. As a student, I spend most of my time on the go, and a sit down restaurant just isn’t in my schedule or budget. However, I still enjoy quality food and care about the environment. When I am searching for a quick and easy meal, I look for something that is able to be carried and lightweight. Companies are able to cut costs and make meals more accessible by using less materials, and I think this trend is definitely on the rise. Eco-consciousness is not only a trend, but an essential, wise practice. With landfills overflowing and concern on the rise, it is only natural for companies to follow the demand for more sustainable practices and products.

Such products that are being more and more popular include packaging with alternative materials other than plastic and styrofoam. Bio degradable packaging, such as the more recent bag used for Sunchips, show the company has a concern that is common to the consumer. Many places old and new alike rising to the challenge and entering this idea of honest design into their company standards. The message is clear, sustainability is here to stand and make a good impression.

As designers we are no longer just visual implementers. Since the beginning, the term “Graphic Design” has been used in reference to someone who can communicate a message using images and text. In the early days, designers were really typesetters, in the middle years they were technical experts and now they are having to become customer service experts. As designers, we have learned to roll with the times.
If we were to describe who we have become, we now are:
• Writers
• Customer service (always)
• Web Experts
• Social media Experts
• Counselors
• Marketers
• Communication Folks
• Environmental Graphics
• Only way to make money is through advertising
• Product Designers

CONTINUE READING

Grand Designs Live show is currently going on. We had a brilliant day on Saturday looking at all the design ideas out in the world. Andrew Sundling, our new Mr. Sustainability, led the way for creating sustainable ideas and directions during the day. It was a site to see! We are very keen on finding new ideas and spend a lot of time at shows and events to check out what is going on in the world. This show seemed to be a bit more residential than we had expected, but it was a useful opportunity to see what is going on in the UK market.

There was a chalk rammed block house in the process of being made, a lot of organic wool being promoted and a very clever series of products all made from recycled or recyclable materials. We happened to stumble across a TILT stool and a few other ideas that may actually get implemented. We found chairs (FLUX) for our TILT Food Truck this summer.

The food section was less than desirable with many products that were ‘made for TV.’ Not really useful for us, but we did find a commercial style flat top cooker that we are going to try out from one of the companies.

At lunch we were left stuck with the question of what to eat. Andrew ending up finding a veggie burger from the Fine Burger Co. and we pondered the sustainable non-brilliance of its packaging. He had asked for it without a bun (i.e. Naked) and they gave a very poor attempt to include a salad as a substitute. Shame since the 5 miles or so we walked built up a hearty appetite!

The Center for a Liveable Future (CLF) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, along with a group of students from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)  created a video based on marketing the food consumption in Baltimore. One of the videos was created by Hugh Popcock’s Sustainability Squad at MICA and was based on a year long series of video and research. The journey to these two videos was profound and shows truly how little we know about our food and where it comes from. WATCH HERE

The Great Kids Farm, the Baltimore City Public School farm, was highlighted as a resource for food production and education for the young locals and Greg Strella offers his wisdom on the historical value of food to our culture vs where we are today. Both are worth a watch and capture important aspects to what is going on as we have a tremendous cultural shift back to buying local.

What’s missing?
While these films were absolutely great and very well done, especially since they were created by students, Many good questions are raised, but few are answered with specifics. Perhaps the director was hoping that we as consumers would be able to fill in the blanks with our ideas. There is a very strong gap in the marketplace in food film and action. We spend lots of energy and resources on telling the real story about food which works as a scare tactic, not as a change agent. So, how do we make a difference?

One way is to get people to understand actual food limits. As a human population we are constantly hitting our max capacity with a number of things – we are literally “stuffed” and the concept of emptiness doesn’t exist in our culture. If and when we have hit our max capacity is the only time that we actually stop. This is how it works with food too. We like to push our ability to try and stuff ourselves further than we did the last time, so what if we had a daily reminder of being at our max capacity? What would that be and what would it look like?

Perhaps we could also implement this as a challenge. So, let’s thing about this as a more positive view. What about suggesting something like a challenge? I feel as though tangible and positive actions help to inspire others to do the same. There are a series of items that have to happen in order to make someone feel positive about something else. Any thoughts email them here.

Join the design Baltimore folks tonight at the windup space for a totally cool Design Conversation! See more information here.

Design Convo #19
Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Tonight is the return of the Baltimore Design Conversation, held every month on the first Wednesday at the Wind Up Space. This go round is being curated by Fred Scharmen and the topic is Streets/Art. Fred has invited guests to look at aspects of public art that occur outside and between the institutions that have traditionally supported art in communities. On hand will be sculptor and performance artist Jonathan Taube; activist, artist, and facilitator Paulo Harris; and street artist, sculptor, and painter Andrew Pisacane.

This will be the first in a two-part look at how public art impacts cities. The second part of this conversation will take place at June’s Baltimore Design Convo to be curated by Ben Stone.

D:center Baltimore is a new organization composed of a broad cross-section of disciplines and individuals invested in improving and encouraging design—in all its iterations—in the Baltimore region.