KASK
KASK is the result of a search for a sustainable alternative to the commonly used plastic bicycle helmets nowadays.
A helmet consists entirely of plastics, more than half of which is the foam EPS. This material needs to be replaced with every impact op bump, since mini cracks can appear. This means: a new helmet being purchased and an old one ending up in the heap or landfill. Although often only the foam is damaged, we throw away the entire helmet. In addition, there is no proper recycling process for the plastic foam EPS.
Motivated by the many problems these plastics cause,
the need for a better environment and the dream
of a better future, I started the search for alternative
materials and production processes.
This way, I ended up creating a bicycle helmet
made out of 4 different natural materials,
sourced from waste streams.
The inner shell is made out of mycelium. This natural material consists of coffee grounds and straw, mixed in with spores of fungi. The roots of these fungi grow through the straw and coffee grounds and holds the material together.
It has excellent shock absorbing properties.
For the outer shell, a residual stream of leather is processed.
To me, leather is a material that becomes more beautiful with time and carries the marks of the user with it. This makes it really your helmet, with your traces of use and your story.
I hope to add an emotional durability through it.
Because current leather coloring processes have a huge impact on the environment, I experimented with natural dyeing.
In the prototype, I used cranberries for the pink color. To be able to process narrow pieces of waste leather, a patch was woven and wet formed over the helmet.
