Bloom

Synopsis
The prompt for this 10-week Junior year student project was to design a housewares product.
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Large-scale agricultural systems have made food less nutritious, less ethical, and more wasteful. The best way for people to alleviate this is by generating more small-scale agricultural systems by at-home composting and gardening.

Bloom is an appliance that grows gourmet mushrooms from coffee waste and streamlines at-home composting and gardening by making it clean, intuitive, and harmonize with the coffee brewing ritual.
TYPE
Industrial Design
Sustainability
Mycology
Credits
Professor - Arunas Oslapas
Cascadia Mushrooms
Date
12/6/2020
Links
First Place Award, Global Innovation Awards
10.4 million tons of coffee is produced each year, but only 1% of coffee's biomass is consumed.

Circular System

Coffee waste is an abundant resource.
Mycelium digests coffee grounds and filters.
The mycelium grows gourmet mushrooms.‍
Integrating coffee waste recycling into the brewing ritual makes it easier to habitualize.
Obvious
‍Recycle the coffee waste right after brewing.
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Attractive
‍Harmonize with existing brewing rituals.
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Easy
‍A storage method that's more accessible than a trash bin.
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Satisfying
Drink some coffee right after recycling.

Design Criteria

Beautify at-home mushroom growing.
Compliment modern kitchens.
Look and feel like coffee brewing hardware.
DIY methods of growing mushrooms inspired initial ideation.

Experiment

Collecting coffee waste in the freezer and inoculating it all at once lead to the healthiest colonization and easiest UX.
Circular System
Bloom extends the coffee brewing ritual to facilitate monthly mushroom grow cycles.

Terrarium

Coffee Container

Spawn Capsule

Subscription Service
A spawn capsule is delivered each month to inoculate coffee waste with oyster mushrooms.
Store coffee waste in a container in the freezer to keep it sterile until the next grow cycle.
GE Appliances
Aeropod
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