Writer : Editor Team
Translator : Parisa Pichimarn
“In the kitchen, nothing is considered trash,” American world-famous chef Anthony Bourdain once mentioned while he was still alive in one of his last documentaries. Regarding managing food waste, he said, “I may be the old school type that was taught to never throw anything away. That means whether it is unprocessed meat or bits of fruits and vegetables, it can be made into menus and nothing should be trash.” This is not a trend that is only limited to the food industry, as there is a global effort in trying to create value out of leftovers in order to combat overconsumption and consumerism, which leads to depleting our natural resources.
Environmentalists and progressive activists often say, “If we still use our resources the way we do today, we may need another 10 Earths in order to have enough resources for us to use.” To use our resources to their optimal value has been the new solution which has also brought about new fast-growing markets and products for consumers concerned with sustainable consumption.
Corn husks which are discarded on farms have been compressed into slabs to be made into coffee tables by Charoentribhop Limited Partnership, while Yothaka weaves baskets out of natural fibers and leftover synthetic fibers from factories. Water hyacinths and leftover fabrics from factories can be fashioned into handbags and roots from the Sonneratia trees that have been cut off are made into accessories by the brand LOG-KO. Leaves, branches and seeds from the longan farm have been redesigned into ceramics and packaging at Baan Nhong Lai Village as well.
A designer has referred to the process as: “It is approaching a different dimension that they are and adding some of ourselves to it in our own way. It is only changing the look of it, but it is not changing what they are.”
DEWA is without a doubt, a harmonious blend of design and production ideas that bring together contemporary chic and local wisdom fittingly.