​

Beatrix Ong, Lou Blackshaw and James Cropper

​

A million disposable plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute, most of them winding up in the oceans or in landfill. In an effort to combat waste, designer and marine campaigner Beatrix Ong joined forces with paper manufacturer James Cropper and set designer Lou Blackshaw to create a water vessel out of old coffee cups. The technology, developed by James Cropper, involves removing the polyethylene lining from the cups, then repurposing paper fibres for further use. The resulting vessel is biodegradable and environmentally friendly, its sculptural form evocative of seashells.

​

Beatrix Ong
In 2000, aged 22, Ong secured the creative directorship of Jimmy Choo Couture, before launching her eponymous shoe brand, using recycled materials in her designs wherever possible. Her first foray into furniture was a ‘Shoe Tree’, created with Jointed + Jointed for Wallpaper* Handmade 2016. beatrixong.com

​

Lou Blackshaw
A specialist in paper sculpture, London and Gloucester-based Blackshaw trained as an illustrator before turning to set design. Her abstract, organic creations have appeared in campaigns for Burberry, Cos, Graff and Nike, as well as the pages of Wallpaper*. loublackshaw.com

​

James Cropper
Founded in 1845, the company is one of the UK’s oldest traditional paper mills. Based in the village of Burneside, in the Lake District, the sixth-generation family business produces coloured papers as well as 3D products using materials from cotton to wood to carbon fibre. It is the developer of CupCycling, the world’s first recycling process dedicated to upcycling take-away coffee cups. jamescropper.com