Philia, Bio-plant

By far, the most endangered species on the planet are plants.

More than 30,000 plant species are threatened with extinction, such as slow-growing cacti, orchids or extremely rare conifers. The disappearance of plant species is not only a consequence of climate change. Everyone knows about illegal logging, but little is known about plant poaching. This flora poaching has consequences for biodiversity and the survival of human well-being. Poached plants are usually sold illegally to plant collectors, quite simply online. This project draws attention to this problem. With a high interest for Biophilic Design, Laura van de Wijdeven develops new materials. In this new project, Laura looked into the origin and sustainability of popular house plants and less popular outdoor plants such as nettle. Her aim was to develop a biodegradable artificial plant by using garden waste. With this in mind, several experiments were done with garden weeds. The most interesting experiments involved fermentation techniques.

Growing artificial plants.

By combining garden waste with the right bacteria, a biofilm is formed. This biofilm, also called bacterial cellulose, is comparable to plant cellulose but has different physical structures and properties. The residual weed is then used as a nutrient for the growth of another nano-cellulose material: mycelium. By this means, two bio-materials are produced without leaving any waste behind. Resulting in a collection of biodegradable materials to create artificial plants. Growing these artificial rare-plants is supported by Creative Industry fund NL.