In Taipei, a green workshop called “Trash Kitchen” is injecting new life and hope into plastic waste such as bottle caps, food packaging, disposable utensils, and discarded toys. Here, customers can experience the process of creating a pair of fashionable sunglasses using plastic waste brought from their homes.
According to a column in the Taiwanese edition of “Harper’s Bazaar,” the production process is very simple. Approximately 22 grams of waste plastic (avoid using PVC #3 to prevent odor) is placed in a TRASHPRESSO environmental zero-waste machine. From heating and softening to mold shaping, a pair of eco-friendly sunglasses can be made in just about 10 minutes.
The color of the sunglasses depends on the collected trash. Through different degrees of mixing, gradient color effects to solid colors can be achieved. Additionally, by adding materials such as fibers and coffee grounds during the molding process, textures like marble patterns, amber, and wood can be created.
Ms. Hsieh Ke-chen, the editor-in-chief of “Harper’s Bazaar” magazine, believes that this eco-friendly sunglasses project is a great initiative to promote “sustainable fashion.”
She said, “I think there is still a long way to go for sustainable fashion. For consumers, firsthand experience is very important, so workshops like this are very helpful.”
Participants mentioned that this workshop made them think twice about handling trash and pay more attention to reusable items.
A 40-year-old business owner, Ms. Wu, noted, “I have two children, and I need to think about their future. Thoughtlessly discarding garbage will only pass the problem on to the future. So, if everyone can do their part by recycling and reducing plastic use, it will bring about significant change.”
“Trash Kitchen” is located in the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in downtown Taipei and serves as the laboratory of the Taiwanese startup company “Miniwiz.” Founded in 2005, the company develops eco-friendly construction materials and low-carbon consumer goods, focusing on the application of recycled materials to turn waste into treasure.
The company utilizes its self-developed “TRASHPRESSO” environmental zero-waste machine, the world’s first mobile garbage recycling platform with artificial intelligence technology, to melt and shape plastic and organic waste into sunglasses, tiles, hangers, and other plastic products.
In 2010, when designing the Far Eastern Eco Ark Pavilion for the Taipei International Flora Exposition, Miniwiz used 1.52 million recycled PET bottles to create 480,000 PET bottle bricks, constructing the 9-story-tall “Far East Environmental Ark Pavilion FE EcoARK” and attracting global attention.
The founder of the company, Arthur Huang, told Reuters, “What we want to showcase in the ‘Trash Kitchen’ is that you can see, feel, touch the process of waste treatment within minutes, and how this process directly turns waste into something valuable without causing secondary pollution.”
(This article referenced reports from Reuters and “Harper’s Bazaar”)