Assistant Professor of Product Design, Tom Bonamici, was recently featured in an article by Outside's Backpacker, a lifestyle magazine dedicated to wilderness hiking and adventure, with his latest creation: a backpack with no plastic whatsoever. Bonamici had spent the past year handmaking a lightweight backpacking setup in his Portland studio. Intrigued by the prospect of making a backpacking kit with natural materials was a challenge Bonamici was eager to take on, even if the industry's standard materials are the standard.
"...backpacking is just rife with synthetic materials, and they’re really awesome,” Bonamici said to Backpacker. “They’re super lightweight and waterproof and strong and badass. I was just curious to explore, academically, what it would mean to use a full backpacking kit without any petrochemicals at all—not to say that everyone should, but just to explore what compromises we’d make if we did that."
Bonamici's developed this idea as a part of his research as a faculty member at the College of Design. In addition, his work was funded by the University of Oregon and, after field testing the kit, the fruits of the research and designs will be on display as a collection at the Dutch Design Week in the Netherlands, featuring items like plastic-free shoes, custom clothing, and even a compostable quilt.