Potted Pennywort Lamp
SUSTAINABLE ELECTRICITY
For this project, I wanted to explore the creation of a lamp that incorporated recycled materials as the primary building block, with the spared usage of some additional paper and fabric. I was also interested in how this lamp could work while making use of sustainable energy alternatives, rather than relying on the typical battery source.
I conducted some research into substitute power sources and stumbled upon what is called an earth battery, which uses soil as its power source. Dutch product designer Marieke Staps uses this concept in some of her creations like a soil powered clock, and a soil powered lamp. My goal was to replicate this method in an effort to not just to incorporate creative materiality but also sustainability into this project.
Mood Board
While brainstorming I also came across some beautiful planters that inspired the kind of aesthetic I wanted the final product should have.
The mood board inspired my first sketches of what the potted lamp could look like.
As I began testing things out, I also discovered that the voltage of soil can increase when you add water, which led me to my ultimate goal of creating a potted lamp that you can simply water instead of needing to have it be connected to an energy source.
In an effort to keep sustainability in mind as much as possible, I also sought to use as many reusable materials as possible. Although seemingly restrictive, this allowed me to have to resort to a new kind of creativity.
I was able to put to good use an absurd amount of pill bottles I’d been stashing in the hopes of finding something to use them for as opposed to simply throwing them out (you know what they say, reusing beats recycling!). The wooden container was also something that had been lying around my room for a while not seeing much use either.
Unfortunately, while I was getting almost 3 volts from the soil batteries, I wasn’t able to power the LEDs since I was unaware that soil ph actually affects the current. I would like to revisit this project and actually experiment by adding lemon juice or something else that could acidify the soil a bit and see if my results vary.
Additionally, some of the circuits were acting a bit weird and I suspect it might have something to do with the fact that I used a magnetic clasp (as my switch to turn the lamp on and off), from Michael’s. Since that is where I bought it, the “silver” surrounding the magnet is a bit sketchy, and so despite the magnets being conductive, I realize now that the conductivity of the clasp as a whole unit is quite unreliable. I also think I need to revisit the actual circuit and how the battery is being placed in relation to the LEDs, as I think I might actually have done something wrong with the positioning.
So for my next steps, I need to revisit:
- The soil PH
- The circuit
- The quality of the magnetic clasp (switch)
