We tend to see eggshells as fragile, but they’re stronger than we think.
Nature Squared, an ethical design studio founded in 2001, has developed a beautiful wall tile made from discarded eggshells collected from bakeries and kitchens on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. It’s the latest project for the Swiss studio, which focuses on transforming natural-waste materials—including abalone shells and feathers—into surfaces used in yachts, homes, and hotels. The company’s broader goal is to divert more waste from landfills and, in doing so, make the highly polluting construction industry more sustainable.
These eggshell tiles, which are called CArrelé (a portmanteau of the French word for square and the periodic symbol for calcium), are the first project from Nature Squared’s new chief innovator, Elaine Yan Ling Ng, who joined the company in 2020. Eggshells are frequently used in medicine to strengthen bones and in dentistry to strengthen teeth, but they also have applications for home design. In addition to being strong and stable, they’re naturally resistant to UV rays. And as anyone who has painted Easter eggs knows, shells are good at absorbing dyes. “They absorb natural colors sustainably in fascinating ways,” Ng says. “We use natural dyes, such as indigo, madder, and chlorophyllin.”From the start, Nature Squared has focused on partnering with luxury clients to create tiles and panels for walls and furniture. This was partly to show that waste materials could be used for high-end surfaces, but it was also because these new sustainable materials were more expensive to manufacture. By creating these materials at a greater scale, Tan hopes the company will be able to make them at more affordable prices. “Our hope is that we can make these materials available to the mass market at some point,” she says.
According to Tan, a lot has changed since she launched her business two decades ago. Back then, few people in the worlds of architecture and construction were focused on sustainability. But that has since changed. Now, there’s a growing awareness in the industry that building materials and construction are a massive source ofglobal carbon dioxide emissions. “We know we’re in a race against time,” Tan says. “This is our small contribution toward buying us more time.”The eggshell tiles are available for purchase through Nature Squared.
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