A growing number of science and design scholars and design practitioners have recently embarked on studying fermentation processes to produce alternative materials. The main driver of this trend is the search for a sustainable future by proposing novel alternatives that could substitute or integrate into society’s current production and consumption models. This study presents the development of an open-source bioreactor capable of enhancing and optimizing a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) production process. The bioreactor is part of a greater design-driven project aiming to process edible and non-edible materials. The study presents the experiments and methods that led to the development and refinement of the current bioreactor, and all the information needed to replicate it with tools and equipment currently available under the Creative Commons status. The aim of sharing open-source methods and results to reproduce the bioreactor is to support different interdisciplinary teams of scientists and designers in generating high amounts of SCOBY, accelerating R&D with this auspicious yet underexplored source of bacterial cellulose.

In times of multiple crises, embracing alternative and sustainable solutions for materials, products, and manufacturing systems becomes increasingly crucial and urgent. Constant improvements and innovations in technology and science, together with consumer demand for the new, encourage an ever-growing production of electronic goods, consequently leading to a broad and multi-levelled scope of problems. While incremental growth follows unsustainable production patterns, the democratisation of technology on the contrary gives rise to contrasting paradigms and ways of production that could shift the power back to the consumer. Starting from the principles of transparency and openness, the Do-It-Yourself-Revolution (DIYR) project aims for a more sustainable product world, where environmentally conscious production raises the value and care for things while at the same time formulating a new contemporary product language. This project aims to create novel products and product ecosystems with a localised production focus, wherein users are motivated to transition into proDusers (producer-users). This transformation is facilitated through instruction, acquiring additional knowledge, and cultivating skills via immersion in the worlds of making, crafting, and design.