Lunchtime Talk - 'Eco Countertops- from Trash to Treasure'

Last Friday, me and my fellow interior designer classmates participated in an informal talk held by Cosentino. Cosentino is actually a well-known Spanish brand specializing in surfaces for both architectural and interior use. Apparently, the brand is trying to breakthrough in Asia and Singapore is one of its starting points.

The lunchtime talk was held on last Friday noon (April 22nd) on 34 Duxton Road, Singapore. The location of the lunchtime is the beautiful showroom of Cosentino itself. The modern and well-lit showroom is not too big, just the perfect size for single branded store.

Yun, from GreenVineDesign was the main talker of the show, along with her colleagues, did a good job in explaining the topic of the talk that day: ECO COUNTERTOP. Yun started with a brief explanation on the upcycling issue. Basically, upcycling is a term of when an item is modified in a certain way for a better use.

It is quite a trend nowadays to recycle. Many of the designers had already started to incorporated this sustainable method in their design. People has also learned to accept the use of recycled materials, furniture and fashion items because they can be beautiful too!

Eco countertops from Consentino is one of the 'trash to treasure' that we can apply in interior. The Eco countertops is made of 75% percent renewable material, sourcing from post construction materials such as glass and mirror. Why eco countertops? Glass waste is now a problem faced by almost every country, including Singapore. Each year, the glass waste produced is said to be enough to cover the entire infamous Singapore's Flyer. By using eco countertops, not only we reduce the waste by upcycling, we also contributed in preserving the nature.

There are a lot types of countertops sold in the market, but the main type are categorized by the raw materials of the surface. There are solid surface, marble, granite, quartz and last but not least, eco countertop. Solid surface countertop is made from acrylic and is the most economic among all type. It is light, comes in a lot of color and texture but it is easily scratched and not very prone to heat. Both marble and granite are from earth stone. The difference is that marble is more porous than granite hence it is usually not recommended to be used in wet kitchen. Made from stone aggregate is the quartz countertop. Quartz is relatively stronger and more durable that marble or granite, because during the man-made process, modification could be added with chemical, compressing and heating. From the explanation by Yun, all the other material is either taken from nature or not sustainable (acrylic) which could really cause damages for the environment.

Eco countertops is comparable to quartz in the term of strength, resistance and durability as it is also man-made. The only difference is Eco countertops is a product from upcycling the wastes. It is ranked 9th for its strength and comes in 12mm, 20mm, and 30mm thickness. For all the interior designers and green lovers out there, Eco countertops is a new trend that you could add into your space!

The good thing about this informal talks, is that after the presentation, the participant are given time to mingle with each others with lunch buffet served by the team. It was a great opportunity to socialize and meeting new designers from different background. Overall, I am very glad that I joined the talk as it gained me useful knowledge and a motivation to use greener material in my design. It was also a good way to spend the earth day this year!