Ongoing Research 

At Fresh Press we like keeping ourselves busy to complete our mission. Below are our current projects.

The Fresh Press-Enterprise: A sustainable action project for paper production within the UAE using locally sourced agricultural waste $54,452 (2023)

Brian Dougherty and Celery Design Collaborative suggest that because “the paper industry is responsible for 40 percent of all industrial deforestation worldwide […] agricultural residue, or agripulp, is perhaps the most promising fiber source because it […] makes the most of a waste material and doesn’t require dedicated agricultural land” (2008). At the University of Illinois, Eric Benson and his collaborators have established Fresh Press Paper, a studio running in parallel to a sustainable student farm to make paper out of agri-pulp. The UAE is a high consumer of paper, and while the country has a dozen paper mills, few of them utilize unbleached uncoated wood-free paper. This study explores the potential of building a small-scale model of sustainable paper production, utilizing local agri-pulp like palm leaves or corn stalks, to serve art and design students and practitioners.

Past Research 

These are our past projects that helped build Fresh Press.

A Case for a New Case Paper: Co-engineering Library Conservation Materials from Locally Sourced Agricultural Waste, $18,673 (2019-2022)

Farm and Fiber, $79,620 (2014)

Papermaking Community Workshops: Storytelling, Transformation, and Therapy, $ 8,000 (2023)

A Campus Circular Economy – From Farm to Table & Desk, $37,695 (2016)

Off-Grid Sustainable Farm, $68,416 (2012)

3-D Pulp: Crop Residue At Small and Large Scales - UIUC Campus Research Board, $14,522 (2016)

Agri-fiber Paper Lab, $42,130 (2011)