Philia, bio-plant

Long description

I designed an alternative for decorative plants. Real or fake, houseplants are not environmentally friendly. For example the plastic production for artificial plants and the high water and energy use in the production of real houseplants. Besides that, many illegally obtained plants are in circulation worldwide, which are poached from the wild. This has serious consequences for biodiversity. Poaching of wild animals and plants is in the top 3 of biggest threats to biodiversity worldwide. It comes after habitat destruction, but before climate change. More than 30,000 plant species are threatened with extinction, such as cacti, succulents, orchids, but also extremely rare conifers. Poached plants are easily sold online to plant collectors. To draw attention to this problem, I developed a biomaterial made from botanical waste for the development of “rare” artificial plants. I found out that the stinging nettle could be a threat to our local biodiversity. Nettles grow well in nitrogen-rich soil. This soil contains lot of nitrogen from exhaust gases and industries, resulting in an increase of nettles in places where they are not desirable. Especially in nature reserves, the stinging nettle disrupts other plants, again having negative consequences for biodiversity. On the other hand, the nettle is a very healthy plant to eat or make tea, paper and textiles from. I worked on a fermented liquid from the nettle in which good bacteria where added, this ensured the growth of a biomaterial called bacterial cellulose, a strong biodegradable material also known as vegan leather. 

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