- The Spanish design studio Eneris Collective designed the children's stool Nontalo Kids
- The sustainable piece of furniture consists of a waste product: olive stones
- Nontalo Kids is modular, recyclable and designed to stimulate children's playful creativity
Dry summers, mild winters and balmy nights: Spain's Mediterranean climate offers ideal conditions for the cultivation of olive trees. 22% of the table olives used globally are therefore grown on the Iberian Peninsula. However, their further processing creates a problem in terms of sustainability. Manufacturers often only use the pulp for a wide variety of olive products, so that the core becomes a waste product. As a result, around 430.000 tons of olive stones end up in the garbage every year. Even though they have the potential to be sustainable biomaterial to be deployed.
Olive pits as a sustainable biomaterial
Barcelona-based biomaterials company Naifactory Lab recognized this potential and set out to repurpose olive pits. It opens up a holistic perspective on the product and promotes a Zero Waste Mindset, which can be implemented in particular with regard to organic products. Guided by this vision, Naifactory Lab developed the biomaterial Reolivar. A cork-like material that contains only bio-based binders and other natural ingredients in addition to the olive stones.
Source & Copyright by Eneris Collective | Naifactory Lab
After developing Reolivar in 2020, Naifactory Lab invited Spanish design duo Irene Segarra and Irene Martínez to work with the biomaterial to experiment and to identify approaches for application. As part of this project, the designers joined forces under the name Eneris Collective and developed Nontalo Kids. Each children's stool is made of Reolivar. Or to put it another way: 7.500 olive stones.
From the idea to the finished product
In total, Eneris Collective worked on the design for Nontalo Kids for four months. The goal: to create seating for children without using the typical features of a chair. And to integrate a playful twist with the unusual P-shape and various composition options. Sustainability also played a crucial role in the conception of the stool. So he is made up of six modular components together, which are created in custom-made molds in order to avoid offcuts and thus waste.
Source & Copyright by Eneris Collective | Naifactory Lab
Smart addition: Nontalo Kids consists of 100% Reolivar, since not even screws are used. As a result, there are no components that need to be sorted or separated at the end of the life cycle. So the stool can simply be composted or used Recycling returned to Naifactory Lab.
Nontalo Kids at Dutch Design Week
After Naifactory Lab had already won awards for Reolivar, it was now Eneris Collective's turn to present the stool at this year's Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. In the future, the design collective also plans to develop an entire Nontalo Kids collection based on the same shapes and ideas.
