Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Popcorn Foam Is a Renewable Alternative to Polystyrene
Nerdist: Every year the world produces 14 million tons of—non-biodegradable—polystyrene foam. The general-purpose plastic is hard, brittle, and cheap. And it forms everything from packing peanuts to disposable cutlery to insulation. Now, researchers at Georg August University in Germany say they may have a tasty, environmentally friendly alternative to consider: popcorn foam.
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6 comments:
I think plant-based foam replacements could be really promising for our industry. There usually ends up being some kind of snag that prevents it from being a good alternative for theater. Any foam alternative needs to be able to be carved, take paint, and not disintegrate too quickly. I am not sure whether this popcorn foam would meet all of those needs. Another issue tends to be lead time on more niche products like this since usually there is one company is producing all of it, so it is not super easy to obtain. Hopefully some foam alternative will be readily available and capable of performing the functions needed in theater in the near future. I would also love if they could make it squeak less. Even if it can’t be used for theater, any alternatives we can implement in order to help reduce waste will be a net positive.
I know its very easy for myself to get stuck into one line of thinking, this is how I’ve done it before, this is how I’ve seen it done when in reality there are often a myriad of ways to get things done. It could be bought from this company or we could make something that works better, but in the end this does come back to those core resources, especially time and money. Do you have the time to get something working, do you have the funding for that? In some cases, the resources are there and it is a choice not to follow it which is why I like this new type of foam, get something out in the open, so the fact that there are more options is displayed, as this is often necessary to force discussion and developments of new perspectives. We as an industry put a lot on productivity of people but also of materials that we use with less regard for the costs involved.
While I am not sure if this material will be super useful for our industry, it is really cool for insulation and other purposes. I generally get behind any new material that is sustainable, biodegradable, and made from generally easy to acquire and cheap goods. I am curious if when it is used as an insulation material it will heat up and smell like corn. Will walls in the future smell like corn? I am also curious if this material will ever catch on to the point of actively increasing the demand for corn. A very large portion of the American agriculture industry already produces corn so could the demand for this material increase the ability for people to move away from things like corn syrup and starch and instead use that existing supply for polystyrene substitute? Or will it only increase the already 90 million acres of corn being grown across the U.S?
I think it’s really important that we examine all of the ways that we do things and the materials that we work with. I think using more environmentally friendly things in fabrication is always a good idea when you can do it. There isn’t really enough information in the article for me to quite make a judgement call on that 100%, but I don’t think that the popcorn foam would really be that useful in the theatre industry, at least, since a lot of the things wee do with foam are scenic treatments/ elements. What is working with the foam like? Can it be carved and painted? Are there any kindness of special tools or know-how that we need to be able to work with it? I really hope that it’s properties are similar enough to the foams we like to use because it would be nice to be able to make our industry a little better for the environment.
This is an interesting breakthrough in the sustainability and packaging industry. Lately, sustainable packaging has really become a leading factor for consumers, especially in the age of online shopping. The few purchases I have made from Etsy, every seller was very proud of the fact that they had 100% recyclable packaging. Popcorn foam does not seem that far fetched when it comes to things like packing peanuts. I know that a lot of compostable cups and cutlery are made from a corn product that allows it to breakdown more naturally so I guess it was only a matter of time before we figured out more uses for corn. I find it rather interesting that popped corn also has a similar form factor to polystyrene foam that is often used in shipping. Articles like this are really nice to read and learn that sustainability is something people are genuinely trying to innovate. My burning question is, can I eat it? And does it taste like popcorn?
This idea of using plant-based foam is a great idea and hopefully it can potentially replace the foam that we use. Usually the biggest challenge with switching to something more environmentally friendly is that it is not as cheap or as easy to produce. If it does get to the point that it’s cheap enough and the supply chain can handle it, you also have to convince the industries to use it because it will most definitely have slightly different properties and they will be stuck in their ways. The other big challenge is that the theater industry is not the biggest user of foam and that it’s usually other things like construction and we are a secondary thought. It’s not worth it creating an entire product just for our tiny aspect of the fabrication and construction industry. Hopefully everyone both in theater and theater adjacent can start using this product and potentially make the environment slightly healthier.
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