Every day two billion cups of coffee are drunk globally, and every one of these cups of coffee needs about 76 beans to be ground down. The process of bringing beans to their final destination, and the aftermath of using the beans, requires a large amount of materials to be used, as well as creating quite a large footprint. All of this creates in excess of 23 million tons of waste per year globally. Lots of this waste only has one use and gets thrown away at end of life, such as coffee sacks used for transportation. Some people are trying to utilise these items by giving them a new lease of life. This ranges from bio-fuel logs to trainers, with one designer turning coffee bags into a desirable textile which adds value to the material. 

Recently the burlap coffee bag has been turned into a variety of products, such as bags. Coffee bags are traditionally made from jute which is seen as a wonder material. Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Rosana Escobar has used the coffee bag in new and exciting ways to explore the material, showcasing how it can be used for a variety of products. By utilising the raw material Escobar has created a variety of textiles, thus helping to give it value and a new lease of life. Her project titled “Unravelling the Coffee Bag” looks specifically at the Furcaea andina, a plant belonging to the family of Agave plants native to the tropical regions of the Americas, which is the textile used to make coffee bags in Colombia. One million coffee bags are exported from Colombia every month, reaching every corner of the world.

Escobar alters fique fibres from the agave plant by unraveling the woven fabric of the bag. She then is able to create a fluff which can be processed into a felt. This felt has been turned into benches, stool and rugs unrecognisable from the original source. But some of the products in the collection take a note from the source by using colourful lines. The final result is a material that transforms the rustic bags into something more desirable and tactile.

Our Coffee Soap

Last year we launched our coffee soap that we created in collaboration with Ozone Coffee. We began by taking their spent coffee and used this as an ingredient in our 320g seaweed soap block, which also includes patchouli, seaweed, aloe vera and tea tree. We use coffee grounds as after use most are thrown away or composted without a second life. So we wanted to utilise their amazing exfoliating effect on the skin. The coarse grinds can help to remove dirt and dead skin cells. They’re perfect for use on the hands or body, and aid with healthy skin turnover. The soap is also housed in a paper made from discarded coffee cups.

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References/Credits:

Rosana Escobar