At first glance, Nina Edwards Anchor lamps and wall sconces look like old rolls of parchment or caramel leaves wrapped around LED bulbs.
Get up close—or just ask a New York designer/architect—and you'll discover they're actually made of seaweed.
He got the idea while working on a PhD research project on materials and lighting at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, and has now made a chandelier, a lamp, and even a chandelier called Chlorophyta.
Anker has chosen not to mask dried seaweed - its colors have all the imperfections of their natural state and a translucent honey colour.
"From the beginning, we wanted to preserve the integrity of the material and show off its unique properties," says Anker.
He's one of many designers who think beyond traditional materials and find ways to combine design with sustainable sourcing and production methods.
Anker and his team at the NEA studio are also experimenting with other natural materials.
"For lighting, we're looking at red/orange algae, sustainable feathers, horseshoe crab shells, and glue made from crushed clams and corn leftover," she says. "There are organics like lentils for furniture and buckwheat and other upholstery fillers, as well as natural rattan, cork, and bamboo."
Great strides have been made in turning recycled plastic bottles, wood and vegetable fibers into materials that can be used in the home and fashion industries as it strives to combat the negative environmental impacts of cotton production, plastic pollution and more.
Heimtextile, a global fair for the latest in textile design and development, opened this week in Frankfurt, Germany, with a focus on recycling materials to create new products in a more environmentally friendly way.
says Olaf Schmidt, deputy textiles at Heimtextile and head of textile technology.
Others recycle organic materials such as flax and raffia.
“There are mosses that are used in making carpets and acoustic panels, and they are great insulators, fire retardant, and good at controlling moisture,” Schmidt says. "At the end of their lives, the panels can be demolished and reused."
At last summer's fair, innovative materials included recycled fibers from cork and PET (plastic) bottles.
“Cork is breathable, hypoallergenic, antibacterial, insulating, and durable,” says Schmidt, adding that it can be harvested more sustainably than many other materials.
Cork home decor products include trays, tables, wall panels, and fixtures. For example, you can buy Portuguese embossed cork rolls on Etsy.com.
Cork is wiped and applied to fabrics to create a soft vegan leather that some designers use to upholster chairs and sofas, while others make jackets, pants, hats, bags, and umbrellas. For example, Savala produces luggage, bags and suitcases from cork-based fabric.
"The biggest trend is sustainability," said fashion industry analyst Veronica Lieber. The industry is trying to reduce its impact on the environment and not be the biggest polluter."
Patagonia, North Face and Timberland are among the companies now using natural materials from renewable sources.
Schmidt noted that recycled PET bottles are made into a knitted yarn called Hydroknit and lightweight shoes and boots the company calls "sleepers" by Canadian shoe company Native Shoes.
The Italian brand Campos offers swimwear and rainwear made of PET bottle filament yarn, which dries quickly and is soft.
The yarn itself is sold by the ball on Etsy's unique yarn shop. Lightweight, stretchy and strong, it can be knitted, crocheted and woven into items such as handbags or fibers.
Among other activities:
The Italian company Frumat has developed a vegetable peel made from the waste of apple juice producers.
Two Mexican inventors, Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cazarez, made a shell out of nopal cactus leaves, which they called deserto. Aloe vera plants are attractive to developers of new materials because they tolerate drought, heat, and poor soils.
Pinatex supports the farming community in the Philippines by using the waste from the pineapple harvest to create items that are sold to manufacturers of shoes, accessories, apparel and home furnishings.
California-based Bolt Thread has also developed Mylo, a mycelium-based leather used by brands such as Adidas, Lululemon, and Stella McCartney.
Eventually some of the glass wall tiles used in the house started to be on a car. Companies break up discarded glass, then cook the mixture. Crushed dirt becomes a hard, dark substance called acid glass.
“Fiberglass is now one of our four major tile lines. It has an incredible range of color and durability,” says Ted Acworth, founder of Boston-based mosaic tile manufacturer Artec.
Annie Hall, a designer from Cambridge, Massachusetts, used a combination of clementine, sky, and robin blue glass tiles for a recent kitchen backsplash project.
"I always hope to find sustainably produced products for my design projects, and I'm glad that tempered glass is just that," he said.
New York writer Kim Cook regularly covers design and decoration for the AP. Follow her on Instagram at kimcoohome.
