Ungrounded

Coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world, with over 168 million of 60kg of coffee beans consumed in 2022/23, as production is expected to grow by an additional 94.0 million bags in the following year (International Energy Agency, 2022). Coffee has a long-standing history and is deeply embedded in the lives of many as coffee consumption has integrated in many people’s lives as a daily ritual. As part of the life cycle of the material, the mass production of coffee also leads to mass production waste that often ends up in landfills. But what if, instead of landfill, coffee waste can be reintroduced as a valuable material. The project explores five different narratives, the wall, the table, the lamp, the cups and the dirt, that reiterates the application of spent coffee grounds while maintaining the essence of being biodegradable apart from the table that contains cement. to see beauty in everything encourages me to look for alternative materials and reevaluate the constraints around objects and the utilitarian. In practice, the beauty of everyday waste is found in acknowledging its existence and incorporating the conceptualised idea of “waste” in forms or medium.