Water quality optimization is a type of water pollution, that is, when there is an excess of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients in lakes and rivers, algae proliferate, covering the water surface, and even completely blocking the sun, causing the dissolved oxygen content in the water to decrease, and the Plants, fish, and shrimp die as a result. But who says these algae are completely useless? Hispanic-Italian designer Pablo Dorigo Sempere extracted algae that polluted the water quality from the Venetian Lagoon and made stamps From Venice with Algae. Didn’t he help the algae to "change jobs" successfully?
This is not the first time that algae has been used in paper products. As early as 1992, the environmentally friendly paper Shiro Alga Carta launched by the Venetian paper company Favini added algae. At that time, the Italian government hoped to use this method to improve the water ecology of Venice canals and reduce the felling of trees. So Favini extracted algae from the water, dried it, ground it, and mixed it with paper pulp to make Shiro Alga Carta. In "Aesthetics of Sustainability", which Pablo Dorigo Sempere conducted while at the ?colecantonale d'art de Lausanne (?CAL), he explored the positive qualities of algae, especially starting from scratch, including understanding The differences in algae powder with different thicknesses and the characteristics of cellulose fibers challenge the no easy task of algae stamps.
Dorigo Sempere summarizes the production process of algae paper into three steps: pulping, papermaking and paper pressing. First, soak the cellulose fibers in clean water for 24 hours to soften them, then put them in a container and mix them with powdered algae. The coarser the algae powder, the darker the paper will be, ranging from ivory to dark brown. , the texture of the paper will be more irregular and rough, and the visual graininess will be more obvious. After pulping, the mixture of paper pulp and algae powder is put into a mold to shape. After completion, it is placed in a paper press to drain the water within 48 hours. The thickness of the paper is also determined at this stage by varying the depth of immersion of the mold into the mixture, with Dorigo Sempere setting the thickness of the paper at 0.3 mm.
Finally, Dorigo Sempere cut zigzag shapes on the edges of the algae paper, replaced the traditional watermark with a barcode, and further processed the algae paper into stamps. Each barcode is designed by Dorigo Sempere himself and then laser-printed on the algae stamps. Not only is it beautiful, but users can scan it with their smartphones to learn more about the creation process of the algae paper.
Despite Favinis production precedent, the production process of algae stamps still inevitably involves some trial and error. For example, Dorigo Sempere discovered that if the proportion of algae reaches 10%, the finished product will be too fragile and easily broken. , so he decided to lower the proportion of algae to 3% to 8%, so as to control the color and texture of the algae paper without affecting the printing and quality of the stamps. After adjustments, the final algae paper has almost no big difference from traditional paper in use, except for a grayish-white color and a powdery texture.
Dorigo Sempere believes that the stamp itself can represent a certain historical moment and can also show the level of todays technology. It is a very interesting material. In the world of collection, the weight/value ratio of stamps must be the highest in the world, but stamps The most commonly used method is to stick it on letters, traveling around the world and telling various stories. Now that he can produce stamps in such an environmentally friendly way, affixing them to letters and sending them out is the best way to share the concept of sustainable environmental protection with everyone.
