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[00:00.70] Designers are increasingly using different kinds of materials to produce products that do not harm the environment.

[00:10.79] Reused plastic bottles, wood, plant fiber, and even seaweed are being used in place of traditional materials for household goods and clothing.

[00:24.34] Nina Edwards Anker’s sconces and chandeliers look like ancient pieces of paper placed around electronic lights known as LEDs.

[00:36.82] But a closer look shows that they are made of algae.

[00:41.07] Anker came up with the idea while working on a doctoral research project at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design.

[00:51.70] Anker chose not to hide the dried algae.

[00:54.88] “From the beginning, we wanted to keep the integrity of the material, and display its unique properties,” Anker said.

[01:05.51] She is one of many designers thinking about traditional materials.

[01:11.35] She wants to find ways to mix design ideas with production and supply methods that do not use up resources.

[01:21.44] Heimtextil is an international trade show, or fair, for new textiles in Frankfurt, Germany.

[01:30.74] This year’s fair placed attention on making new products that came from reused materials.

[01:38.71] Olaf Schmidt is Heimtextil’s vice president of textiles and textile technology.

[01:46.68] “We’ll see companies demonstrating how inorganic materials like nylon, plastic and metal can be reused – for example, carpet tiles that can be dismantled at the end of their life and used as a raw material for new tiles,” he said.

[02:07.40] He added, “And there’s seaweed, used to produce acoustic mats and panels that provide great insulation, are fire-resistant and regulate humidity well...

[02:20.41] At the end of their life, the panels can be shredded and reused.”

[02:25.99] Fashion industry expert Veronika Lipar described the field’s most important change – a move to sustainability.

[02:35.56] She said, “The industry is trying to minimize its” effect “on the environment and no longer be the biggest polluter.”

[02:45.38] Patagonia, North Face and Timberland are among the companies now using natural materials to produce goods.

[02:54.95] Italian company Frumat has developed a plant-based leather made from the waste created by apple juice makers.

[03:04.24] Two Mexican developers, Adrian Lopez Velarde and Marte Cazarez, have created a leather they call “Desserto” using nopal cactus leaves. Cactus plants are of interest to new material developers because they can live in hot climates and poor soil.

[03:26.56] Pinatex helps support farms in the Philippines by using waste from the pineapple harvest to create material that is sold to makers of shoes, clothing and other products.

[03:40.90] And Bolt Threads, a company based in California, created Mylo, a mycelium-based leather that is used by companies like Adidas, Lululemon and designer Stella McCartney.