Trash to Paper - Dinacon 2022

The Trash to Paper project utilized local waste to form sheets of paper. Fiber was sourced from cardboard rolls, bottle labels, and scrap documents from recycling bins. We gathered leaves and grasses from burn piles around Riviera Resort and Sid collected fallen coconut husk from the coconut graveyard. The fibers were sorted and blended into a slurry during our papermaking workshops. Participants pulled their own sheets and explored other potential ingredients that could be upcycled into paper with a focus on redefining waste as a raw material.

By Dinacon 2022 and Dreamspace Collective: Daphne U-đổ led coptic bookbinding workshops, Sid Drmay co-hosted the papermaking workshops, Dinoj Mahendranathan sourced drying boards, Afkar Subair sourced mosquito netting, Jathujan Mahendran and Jerushan Sritharan and Jeremy Nguyen fabricated additional mould + deckles, and Amrutha Fernando prepared fiber for pulping.

Supply List: Sponge/Towel, Storage Tub, Blender, Mould + Deckle, Fiber (e.g. plants, rags, scrap paper, cotton, linen, banana peels, newspaper, flowers, denim, magazines, corn husk, envelopes, seaweed, yarn)

my favorite destination to procure ‘Cool Water’ branded bottle labels

the lid of the blender was broken, this is not my usual blending posture

a “mould and deckle frame” is dipped into a tub filled with water and pulp at a 45˚ angle

the sheet of paper is then transferred to another surface and pressed

bringing to life a library of miniature journals

Thank you for reading ☆ much love,

Daphne U-đổ ( @daphneudo )

P.S. Thank you Andy for organizing The Digital Naturalism Conference 2022, Sid for co-hosting a papermaking workshop with me, and literally everyone at Dinacon and Dreamspace Collective for the opportunity to work on this project ´· ᴗ ·`