In an effort to approach biomaterial technologies to the public, we partnered with a local school to demonstrate food chain circularity with fruit peel and eggshell composites to make functional objects. DumoLab researchers collected and roasted unavoidable fruit peels from food halls at Penn Dining, and eggshell byproducts from industrial poultry, timely tapping into hatching of chicks in the partnered kindergarten classroom. A mini-curriculum explained unavoidable food waste landfill issues and exciting material opportunities. During the workshop 21 learners and their teachers explored hands-on making of bio-based ceramic trays from composites of powdered banana, citrus or melon peels, crushed eggshells, and water-based binders - recreating our recent Eggregate bio-receptive cladding systems as food chain ecological literacy in the classroom.
Team: Lead Researchers Bhavana Priya Balasubramanian & Yasaman Amirzehni (co-authors) and support class teachers Innocent & Oertling
Partners: St Peter’s School SPS, Mouhamed Mboup (Executive Chef at Penn Dining), Elise Dudley (Regional Sustainability & Food Edu at Bon Apetit).
Location: Old City, Philadelphia PA.
Learners: 21 Kindergartners
Learning Objectives: Initial exposure to alternative material sources from unavoidable waste and principles of valorization into functional products.
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