cinza by jorge diego etienne from mexico

Cinza is a line of products for the home and garden that uses fly ash as prime material. Fly ash is a highly toxic residue that comes from burning coal in the process of making cement. It is estimated that the US alone produces 131 million tons of fly ash annually, about 43% of this is recycled or reuse, primarily as filler in concrete. When more than half of the production is going into landfills, fly ash is an important subject to address, and we chose to do it with a design that turns this toxic and polluting material into beautiful, safe products for the home.
The existing problem of fly ash production in a Mexican cement company turned our team into addressing this problem. Our multidisciplinary team included industrial designers and chemical engineers from the Tec de Monterrey. We first examined different chemical mixes we could use for fly ash and after submitting the material to several tests we chose a mix of 50% fly ash and 50% polyester resin for our prototypes, thinking can polyester resin could be substituted later on by natural resins creating an even more eco-friendly product. This mixture of resin eliminates any risks for humans when using Cinza products in their homes and gardens. Since the materials are extremely low cost and it’s production is simple, Cinza is viable in every aspect for it’s commercialization, with a surprising investment return rate.
Cinza makes a positive product from a negative material, and being the garden it’s place to be, it helps people design their gardens bringing imagination into their life and creating harmony between them and nature. Our first product for the Cinza line is a tile for creating paths in the garden, it uses the form of two circles intersecting allowing nature to grow between it’s gaps. There is no structured way to align these tiles so imagination is the only limit for the endless configurations that can be created. Other products in the Cinza line will include garden furniture and a range of plant pots.

Cinza is green design for humans.