Strawlife: new materials from agricultural waste for social reintegration and development

Environment and society are the two focuses of today's reality. On the one hand, we have an exhausted planet and on the other, we have a society in continuous and rapid development that is ill-suited to social fragilities. To transform these two different complexities into mutual values, StrawLife was born. By recovering the waste from the agricultural production of rice in the Parco Agricolo Sud Milano, it was possible to obtain new straw-based materials by involving the local fragile subjects in the production. The straw was treated with an alkaline solution, and it was softened to be mechanically processed obtaining a pulp and forming sheets of paper fabric. A second more rigid result was obtained by cooking the straw before being combined with a gel of water and starch. The two results were subsequently used to design products that responded to the needs of the local communities