Part of ‘My Fossil Free Wardrobe’. Photo Tjeerd Veenhoven What construction and fashion materials are genuinely sustainable? That is the focus of the ‘My Fossil Free Wardrobe & The Nature Building Kit’ exhibition, held in Atlas on the campus from 3 to 14 February.
Wageningen Food & Biobased Research scientists Arjen van Kampen and Paulien Harmsen are both experts in sustainable feedstock for construction materials and textiles. They want to use this exhibition to demonstrate that there are plenty of options for making the textile and construction industries biobased with high-quality materials. This involves using bioresources from days gone by, such as wool and flax and super-modern biobased materials. ‘Examples include biobased asphalt or biobased viscose’, Van Kampen explains.
The exhibition consists of two parts, both stemming from previous research projects. The first is a ‘Nature Building Kit’ (see picture), which contains a range of sustainable materials that can be used in buildings, infrastructure and other construction projects. Almost all of the materials are rooted in Wageningen research. The kit also illuminates the link between functional components in biomass and the types of material that can be made. The second part of the exhibition is aptly named ‘My Fossil Free Wardrobe’ and focuses on textiles. It shows which textiles are biobased and which are not. It also showcases creations that are both stylish and fossil-free.
Meet the researchers
The exhibition takes place in Atlas from 3 to 14 February. Van Kampen and Harmsen will be available on-site from 12.00-13.30 hrs on Tuesday, 4 and Thursday, 6 February, to provide interested visitors with more information on the materials, their research and why using more sustainable materials matters.
The use of raw materials in the textile and construction industries has dramatically changed over the last few decades. Traditional biobased materials have been moved to the back bench in favour of materials from fossil and mineral sources. This shift has contributed to climate change and (micro) plastic pollution. Van Kampen and Harmsen hope the exhibition helps people to see that there is another way. There are abundant high-quality biobased alternatives available.
