Grace of Waste – the furoshiki that cleans oceans

Design: Peter Schmidt Group
Location: Germany
Project Type: Produced
Product Launch Location: Global
Packaging Contents: Classical wrapping cloth, Greeting card
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Ocean Plastic, Algae paper
Printing Process: Risography

Each of us produces plastic waste every single day. Of this plastic waste, 40% is from packaging – used just once and then discarded. This plastic waste often ends up in our oceans, drifting together to create enormous garbage carpets. It is our responsibility to change our mindset and see waste as a resource to be used in creative ways, and thereby to minimise our burden on the environment.

With this in mind, we created a product just in time for Christmas – a festival where gifts are elaborately packaged – that interprets the art of wrapping in a sustainable way. The Japanese tradition of Furoshiki combines the joy of unwrapping with the serenity of maintaining a good conscience. The Furoshiki is a classical wrapping cloth that can be reused as a gift wrap or for various other functions.

Our Furoshiki was produced in large part with recycled plastics which would otherwise be floating in our oceans. A closer look at the pattern on the cloth illuminates this issue by illustrating the collection of plastic carpets that form as a result of the ocean currents. In this way, we make our own small contribution to the regeneration of our planet as well as inspire contemplation of the issue.

What's Unique?
At first glance, the pattern printed on the cloth is just an attractive design, but upon closer examination, you can see that it illustrates the location of the garbage patches in the world's oceans. We hope this will encourage people to think about the issue – and pass the information on when they reuse the cloth as gift-wrapping.