This project was a wild ride from start to end. At the start of this project it was somewhat of a relief learning that I was going to be joining Griffin and Lindsay on this project as we had worked well together in the past and we knew each others rhythms. Having Arman on the team was a new component to work in but he was an easy addition.
Earlier in the semester I had been troubled by the mass amount of waste there is in takeout as I was constantly getting various takeout containers to stay fed during my most busy time of the year. It devastated me how bad Cincinnati's recycling was, and how the whole world is suffering with this problem. When I sat down with my team I pitched my idea of instead of recycling containers which doesn't work if we could plant them and they become flowers for the bees to pollinate. This would solve two problems in one go. The team was excited by the idea and we got to work.
This project was something that was going to be hugely time consuming, as companies take many months to make the right bowl. As a group we determined I would figure out how to make it as I knew the most about fabrication, and the rest of the group would do the research and figure out a way to present it as a solution to two problems.
I immediately got into Fusion360 and started out modeling the chipotle bowl as our example of what the product could be. I then took that model and cut it out of a rectangular prism to create our mold. I then sent it over to maker space to get 3D printed, after a little hemming and hawing trying to figure out billing I got two molds right before thanksgiving.
Then came my parents favorite game of what project is our son going to ruin our house with this time. I brought everything I needed back to DC with me and the process went like this.
I took the cardboard box our materials came packaged in ran it through a paper shredder to cut into a size so my food processor could handle it.
I then made this delicious looking concoction using the shredded cardboard, water, rice paste, and seeds (not pictured). I then took it over to some cheesecloth and squeezed out some water to aid in drying.
At this point it was looking even tastier.
I pressed it into one part of the mold and then clamped the top half ontop.
After 24 hours I unclamped it and put it In front of a fan to let it evaporate more water out.
and then we got our amazing product. After talking with professors we decided to make a bees wax version to help retain water for more liquidy meals (shown below).
I also planted some of the seeds to show off what it would look like when our product was planted.
and then it was presentation day!
This project felt out of control at times as members of our team got sick (including myself) and were down for the count, and it truly felt like a race to the end and I was unsure of if we were going to have a product to present at times, but thankfully it all came together and we made a product I am really proud of.
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