I am aware that concrete as a material doesn’t so much reflect my philosophy of sustainability and ecology when it comes to the sourcing of the ingredients. Especially the cement generates an extensive carbon footprint during it’s production. Then, concrete has other environmental impacts, simply sealing off large areas and imposing irreversible change on nature. When broken up it can merely be ground down and be reused as rubble or aggregate in the best case. Scientific research is under way to explore other methods of recycling and alternative formulas such as papercrete. I am therefore striving to decrease the cement content in my mixes by adding ash or crushed surplus material as aggregate. As a substitute for cement hydrolic lime can be added as well to reduce the carbon footprint.

The cement or the wet concrete mix is also, chemically speaking, a caustic, volatile substance which must be handled with care as it can cause burns and damage airways. Nontheless, I am intrigued by this controversial material and will further explore its possibilities.