STEAM Portfolio 2019
Edible Cutlery
The first problem that we got tasked with solving this year was reducing the amount of plastic our school canteen was using. There are a number of ways to solve this problem through an 'engineers' perspective, my group and I chose to follow an edible cutlery path. Continue reading to learn about how we went through the design cycle and created an effective solution to this problem.
OUR PART
Every society, every community, every school, and every individual has a part to play on earth that contributes to helping reduce our plastic waste. We want to reduce our contribution to this.
OUR COMPANY
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Our company name is KAWS PAWS. We created this company, and our logo, before we had a clear project in mind. We have since altered and added to our logo and the meaning behind it.
MEANING
All three of our group members has a love for animals. Our original logo was just the paw, as it represents a shared passion. We decided to add it as the curve of a spoon and make it more clear, what our product is by adding the words 'edible cutlery'. If we were to take this project further, we may consider altering our logo even further as it can be confusing as to who the product's audience is.
The Problem
As stated above, plastic is a massive threat to the environment. In addition, our school canteen is using a huge amount of plastic daily in order to feed the school. This comes in forms of bags, containers, cutlery, and bottles.
Our redefined problem is that we need to produce a plastic alternative. We narrowed this down even further to specifically cutlery, as our canteen has already started to use starch (biodegradable) containers for some of their items.
Constraints and Specifications
One of the biggest constraints that we faced for this project was our time limit. Because the clients of our product were so specific and involved in our community we were able to set up a date to pitch our ideas to them. This helped to made our solution feel more real, but it also created more pressure to come up with a product that was functional and worth pitching.
Additionally, we had to be aware of the materials that were available to us. Though we have online services that can deliver harder to find materials, it takes time for them to arrive. Meaning that we had to be mindful about what kind of materials we wanted to include in our solution.
Finally, we were not allowed to make any policy changes in our school or canteen. This limitation meant that we had to find a viable solution while thinking through an engineer's perspective. Though we thought of many solutions that could have reduced the amount of plastic in our school much faster, they were all changes to what was already present (e.g. requiring everyone to bring their own reusable cutlery and containers). They were not solutions that required us to come up with a product - which is the end goal. Therefore, our final limitation was not making any policy changes and thinking from an engineer's point of view.
Possible Solutions
Plastic Alternative
biodegrable cutlery
edible container
biodegrable container
metal cutlery
paper/bamboo cutlery
edible cutlery
Pros & Cons
This is a pro-con analyis of our top four most viable solutions.
Pros
Reusable
Sustainable (lasts)
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Biodegradable (if using the right filament)
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Able to learn about a new technology
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3D Printed Biodegradable Cutlery
Pros
Sustainable
Reusable
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Durable
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Able to clean with dishwasher
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Metal Cutlery
Pros
Biodegradable if broken
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Reusable
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Sustainable if used properly
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3D Printed
Biodegradable Containers
Cons
Requires being thoroughly cleaned
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If not treated well, could break
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Takes up a lot of time and material to print sufficient amount
Cons
Needs to be clean well daily
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If breaks, not biodegradable
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Needs time and material to make well
Cons
Improper use could result in breaking
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Hard to make in mass production
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Needs to be cleaned daily
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Pros
Environmentally friendly​
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Gives customer extra food
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Biodegradable if not eaten
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Customisable
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Edible Cutlery
Cons
Not reusable
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Needs to be stored properly
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Needs to be remade regulary (production is ongoing)
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The solution that we chose was edible cutlery. We felt given our constraints and limitations, and where our interests were, this would be the most successful solution. Will our end goal in mind we started the process of creating prototypes and creating iterations for them to become the most viable solution they could be. At the same time, we also wanted to create a 3D mould that we could use to make the shape of the spoons consistent.
Prototypes 1，2 and 3
The recipe created a sufficient amount of dough to create multiple prototypes. We stored some leftover in the fridge and it only became mouldy after over a week.
1.
2 cups of whole wheat graham flour
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of salt
We created the shape of the spoon by laying them on top of metal spoons while in the oven.
The spoons rose in the middle due to unknown yeast in the flour - the affected their shape to make them less 'spoon like'.
The tops of the spoons burnt a little because we did not yet have fine controls on the oven. But they were hard and sturdy.
One of my group members was able to eat their hot lunch with the spoon, so the overall purpose of the spoon was successful.
2.
The butter and egg gave more moisture than needed - kept cutlery soft while baking.
2 cups of whole wheat graham flour
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of butter
1 egg
They are very thick and a lot softer than the first recipe.
1 cup of water to 2 cups of flour seemed to be working so far
3.
2 cups of whole wheat bread mix
1.5 cups of water
1 tablespoon of salt
The dough was very soft and sticky while moulding, making it hard to create a good shape.
The dough is thinner, so the cutlery is hard and sturdy.
My team member was able to eat his lunch with this prototype as well.
Our first and second prototypes started to grow mould because we did not store them properly. We found the solution of storing the product in an airtight container, refrigerator, or both!
Problems, Constraints, and Solutions
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Needs to be moulded by hand
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Needs to be stored properly
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Needs to stay hard while eating (use minimal ingredients)
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Needs
to have the shape and structure of a spoon, so it can hold food -
Shape needs to be consistent
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Needs
to be a
sustainable solution (able
to be made in bulk)
Problem
Constraints
Solutions
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Create a 3D mould, to make the shape consistent
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Use minimal ingredients to limit the amount of cost and time
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Use plain ingredients (no additives such as yeast)
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Control time and temperature of the oven more precisely
Our 3D Printing Process
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We tried creating multiple types of moulds for the spoons. This included a 'press and cut' mould, a printed spoon that you could shape on top of, and a 'cookie cutter'. After many trials with our other prototypes, we came up with two solutions. The first being to cut the mould with the 'cookie cutter' solution. To the get spoon shape, you could then shape the sides up with your hands. However, this solution is time-consuming and would not work well while making multiple batches at once. The second solution is to cut the spoon, again using the 'cookie cutter' mould, and then lay it on top of a metal spoon. When the spoon cooks it will shape itself over the spoon. Though there are also problems with this solution, it is less time consuming and takes less effort when making multiple batches. Therefore, it was our best solution with using a 3D printed mould.
4th and 5th Prototype
After going through the first part of the design cycle these were the conclusions my team and I came to for when making the 4th prototype. They are more specific, but derivatives of the solutions above:
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Use bread flour instead of graham flour (so there is no yeast)
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Use the gas part of the oven, so we can control the temperature more precisely
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Mould the spoon with hands or leave on top of a metal spoon while baking
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Have the recipe similar to the first, as to limit ingredients and complexity
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Store the spoons in a safe environment
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4.
5.
The recipe used for our final prototype was:
2 cups of bread flour (sunflower seeds included)
150ml of water
2 pinches of salt
Sprinkle of salt of sugar on top for flavour
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Though they were still able to be eaten with, the overall success rate of this prototype was lower than expected. The dough was too wet, which resulted in it being too soft and chewy after it was baked. This was due to the type of flour we had available and adding too much water while mixing.
The spoons were cooked at a low temperature and for a shorter period of time. They were then left out to dry and harden by themselves. This results in a really hard and sturdy spoon that was able to be used to eat. Next time, we may sift the flour as the sunflower seeds made it harder to mould them into spoon shape. Additionally, we used both methods of moulding in order to show the difference in the type of shape they can make.
Documentation and Solution
Our group tried documenting our process in a few different ways. At first, we started with Microsoft Teams and adding tasks for people to do. However, not everyone in the group was familiar with this format or didn't feel comfortable so it was not reliable for where the progress of a task actually was. We still uploaded some pictures to Teams, however by the end of the project we were mostly relying on WeChat for communicating outside of class and sharing evidence with each other. Even though where we were sharing information wasn't always clear, our group was very good at communicating, and always did what was tasked to them.
For this project, we were lucky enough to have executives from our school's food provider agree to come and listen to our product pitches. Though in the end, they ended up having to cancel at the last minute, we were still able to present our ideas to people with another perspective - a business perspective. Throughout this project, we have been focusing on the science and engineering side of product making. By presenting, to business students, it helped to provide the other side of the spectrum, as there are two sides of the picture you have to look at while developing a product. We believe that our team has come up with a solid recipe, that is practical and is able to be easily executed. With some work on the production aspect of it, we believe that we have created a viable solution to the problem that was first presented to us in a limited amount of time. I hope that our product has helped to inspire and to be more conscientious of the mark we are currently leaving on our planet.
