Page 60 - Designing Ways 255
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ALL ABOUT
ART
Inxect Suit
København, Denmark
he Inxect suit is a wearable device Environments" program at the Royal pollution issues, Pavels suggested a design
with regenerative properties Academy, Denmark. that challenges the protein consumer to
Tthat breaks down toxic plastic become an active agent in a smaller scale
composites into edible proteins with a Plastic-eating Insects ecosystem. The Inxect suit is the result
low CO2 footprint. The design enables Mealworm is the larva of the darkling of this ambition to create an interchange
a symbiotic relationship between a beetle and are among the most protein- between humans and non-human life. The
human body and a mealworm colony, dense sources for human consumption, project targets the root of the unbalanced
addressing both food security and plastic with the lowest CO2 footprint. relationship between polluting human
pollution challenges on a grand scale. In 2019, a discovery by researchers food production in relation to natural life.
The suit was developed by architect at Stanford University showed that
Pavels Liepins during his master thesis in mealworms have the ability to eat A Human Power Plant
2020/21 at the "Architecture and Extreme and digest plastics without storing The Inxect suit emphasizes the human
any toxic components in their bodies. body as a power plant that generates heat
The mealworms can easily be through movement. The suit captures
processed for use as human the user’s heat and humidity, which is
food, and their excrement can channeled into a habitat integrated into
in turn be used as fertilizer. the abdomen attachment of the suit. In
Furthermore, mealworms this dome-shaped terrarium, mealworms
change exoskeletons are fed plastics that they eat and digest. The
during their life cycle, environment in the habitat is continuously
leaving a raw material measured and communicated to the user
that has the potential through sensors and logs. Hence the
for being used in Inxect suit is a mobile plastic waste and
creating degradable protein production management system.
bioplastics.
Plastic Waste, Food Security, and the
Challenging the Protein Faroese Economy
Consumer The Faroese economy relies almost
In order to address entirely on the fishing industry, a resource
food security and plastic that is threatened by the fact that the world's
60 Issue 255 • dw