We humans are not the only species that design packages. Many of the plants we eat spent ages designing their own packaging for the fruit, roots, seeds and other parts of themselves that critters like us use for nourishment.
Take for instance the humble spud we know as the potato. Most of the plant, including the stalk, leaves and flowers are toxic to humans, however, the tuber which nourishes the plant is full of tasty starch. Covering that source of nutrition for the plant is a tough outer skin, which is occasionally eaten, but often it’s peeled off when preparing French fries.
Three Milan-based designers, Simone Caronni, Pietro Gaeli and Paolo Stefano Gentile, took a look at French fries served as street food, and they noticed how much of the potato peels were wasted. Could the tossed peels be used as packaging?
Together they created Peel Saver, which repurposes potato peels through drying and maceration to return them to their original function: as packaging for the starchy innards.
“Traditional street packaging has a very short time of use, immediately becoming a hardly recyclable waste,” says Caronni. “Peel Saver is a sustainable remedy whose aim is to replace plasticized paper packaging.”
Peel Savers are 100% biodegradable and can be repurposed as animal food or plant fertilizer, reducing trash ending in landfills and making use of otherwise wasted potato peels.
Using the skins to package fried potatoes is a brilliant return of potato peels to their original purpose that reduces the need for paper that’s not reusable or recyclable. No fancy new materials, no sacrifices, Peel Savers creates a sustainable French fry package inspired by nature’s original potato package, the potato peel.
