& 
.Author Archives: Ann Thorpe
are carbon emissions a new source material?
Is it possible to take the carbon molecules in greenhouse gasses (methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide) and convert them into long carbon chains like plastic? This question is at the heart of a new area of sustainable materials engineering. AirCarbon is one company that’s taken this process commerical and currently supplies it emission-engineered… Continue Reading
sustainable clothing
A few interesting groups have come across the desk lately… Seamly is a U.S. company that specializes in using offcuts to design single garments that can be worn in as many as 30 different ways. Redress is a Hong Kong advocacy group working to reduce waste and consumption in the fashion production industry. The group… Continue Reading
What can you do with mushroom materials?
Ecovative is a biomaterials company making its name in mushrooms — their material is grown, not manufactured. I feel myself wanting to add: shaken, not stirred…or stir fried! Ecovative’s “grow factories” produce mushroom mycelium, a natural, self-assembling glue. The mushrooms digest crop waste “to produce cost-competitive and environmentally responsible materials that perform.” The company is… Continue Reading
Subscribe
About
Join me on the first Thursday of the month for ideas, tips and inspiration for teaching and researching sutainable design. Sign up to get these posts in your inbox.