Grace of Waste

Around 40 per cent of the plastic produced worldwide is used for packaging and most of this plastic is used only once before all too often ending up as plastic waste in the world’s oceans. “Grace of Waste” was developed just in time for Christmas, a festival where presents often come in elaborate wrappings. The product wants to raise awareness for the issue of packaging waste and help alleviate this situation by reducing waste. It is inspired by the Japanese tradition of wrapping and handing over gifts in a furoshiki – a cloth that can be continuously reused and thus makes disposable packaging unnecessary. However, this furoshiki even helps reduce waste twice over, as it is made of recycled ocean plastic and contains a coded message. On closer inspection, its printed pattern illustrates the locations of the garbage patches in the world’s oceans. Each time the gift-wrapping cloth is reused, this information is also passed on to a new recipient.