When it comes to developing the sustainable products of the future, manufacturers should be looking back as much as looking forward. Drawing on centuries-old knowledge of natural materials, that’s exactly what earth building specialists Adam Weismann and Katy Bryce did when they founded Clayworks, combining traditional methods with field experimentation. The Cornwall, U.K., company is known for its 100 per cent natural, locally manufactured clay plaster wall finishes.
Produced using abundant raw materials (a unique blend of unfired clays mixed with minerals and pigment) and without additives, they are an exceptionally low-carbon option that is also reusable, recyclable and compostable. Clayworks plasters perform every bit as well as their generic counterparts, naturally regulating relative humidity and temperature, allowing buildings to breathe and improving indoor air quality and acoustics by absorbing toxins, odours and sound. And because their application requires the same skills and tools as other wall plasters, they can be seamlessly integrated into any project. For all this functionality, Clayworks doesn’t sacrifice style: the products are available in 88 mineral pigment colours and four textural finishes.
Recycling rates for plastics are shockingly as low as 9 per cent. It’s a statistic that Montreal homewares brand Cyrc is trying to change. Embracing a circular ethos, its 3D-printed vases, bowls and lighting are made to order from post-industrial food packaging waste, meaning the brand produces only what it needs. The durable products are designed to withstand the test of time, but if customers’ tastes change, they can ship their wares back to Cyrc free of charge, where they can be melted down and extruded into new designs.
Offered in seven new hues, recent launches include Solstice, an elevated fruit bowl whose height not only brings a focal point to any tablescape but also allows air circulation to keep produce fresh. Meanwhile, the Willow (left) and Reed (right) planters, part of the brand’s Wicker collection, are imbued with an intricate texture created through a weaving motion when printing.
The Kibu children’s headphones are more than just colourful and cute. A collaboration between London-based technology start-up Kibu, industrial design and innovation consultancy Morrama (responsible for the minimalist yet cheerful design) and circular manufacturing company Batch.Works (who produces them on-demand), the headphones have the lofty goal of encouraging a sustainable mindset from an early age and disproving that consumer electronics are inevitably – and irresponsibly – disposable.
Each set of headphones is 3D-printed from post-consumer plastic waste – specifically agricultural packaging – with 70 per cent of the components being recyclable at end of life. Arriving as a modular kit of parts, the headphones are designed to be easy for children to build themselves (with perhaps a little guidance), which helps to teach about the in-workings of electronics, hone problem-solving skills and instill a responsible pride of ownership. If damage does occur, the components – which can be customized for colour – are just as easily disassembled, sent back (where they will be recycled or made into new units), replaced and rebuilt. When they are outgrown, the entire set can be returned to be remade for someone new. Further, special integrated technology prevents excessive noise exposure to protect hearing and multiple pairs can be daisy-chained to a single audio source, reducing the number of individual devices needed – an economical option for families and classrooms.
Toronto’s Guests on Earth is on a mission to transform daily chores into well-being rituals – for both people and the planet. From the packaging to the formulation, the homecare brand offers a sustainable and thoughtful alternative for the necessities of everyday life, with reusable vessels and vials made from recycled and recyclable matte-finished aluminum that are designed to be seen rather than tucked out of sight. Taking a less is more approach, the brand’s cleaning solutions are super-concentrated with one 480-millilitre refill pouch providing enough soap to fill one 500-millilitre bottle four times when diluted with tap water.
Specially crafted with plant-based ingredients and mild surfactants, the soaps themselves are biodegradable, gentle on hands and infused with spa-worthy essential oils that create two signature scents: The energizing Desert Dawn combines notes of tangerine, peppermint, lavender, rosemary, cedarwood and fennel; and the calming yet invigorating Dunes at Dusk blends pine, bitter orange, patchouli, clary sage, sandalwood and vetiver. Considered down to the labels – which are heat-transfer prints that easily break down during recycling – the Guests on Earth products (including microfibre cloths made from 80 per cent recycled materials) are packed in FSC-certified cardboard boxes that are 100 per cent recycled, recyclable and compostable.
If this air purifier looks like a science experiment, that’s because it is. A feat of biotechnology, AIReactor was exhibited during Milan Design Week as part of the larger PhotoSynthetica collection, which also includes a compostable 3D-printed stool (made of biomass harnessed by the AIReactor) and a lab-grown ring derived from London emissions.
Conceived by London-based experimental architecture and design firm ecoLogicStudio, the air purifier is comprised of a 1-metre-tall lab-grade glass photobioreactor encased in a birch plywood frame. Inside, 10 litres of living photosynthetic microalgae cultures, stimulated by a constantly stirring reactor, work to absorb carbon dioxide and pollutants and oxygenate the air; the resulting gentle bubbling sound, reminiscent of a water feature, is a welcome side effect. Though compact enough to suit both residential and commercial spaces, the air purifier boasts the equivalent carbon-capturing potential of a mature tree: 20 grams per day. At the end of its life, all of its elements can be disassembled and reused, recycled or composted. In other words, the AIReactor leaves spaces better than it found them.
Brighton-based designer Tabitha Bargh has a knack for transforming the mundane into something marvelous. Constantly exploring and pushing the boundaries of a material’s potential, the U.K. creative sees the beauty in discarded items like cardboard, paper and plastic, regularly reshaping them, testing their limits and giving them a second life. And her recently launched Poly collection is testament of her sustainable ethos.
Upcycling disused real estate signs, which are made from Correx (a polypropylene product), into contemporary lampshades in cone, cylindrical and drum shapes, Bargh gives new purpose to a material that is typically non-biodegradable and unsustainable. The shades – which can be used for pendants as well as table and floor lamps – are methodically pleated in limited batches and no two are alike. This is because, along with the hand-crafted approach, the colour and pattern of each are dependent on what is on the signs themselves; when the light is turned on, the individual hues and hazy graphics shine through.
Named for a British term meaning a relaxed, slouching posture (as well as a marshmallow sweet treat), the Flump stool puts a quirky spin on reclaimed ocean plastic and illustrates how production processes can and should change in the coming decades. Born of material research by physical-digital design studio Heirloom (a collective recently founded by like-minded creatives Jack Godfrey Wood, Harc Lee, Tate Sager and Andy Furner) in partnership with Eindhoven’s The New Raw, each stool is 3D-printed robotically using a single filament of molten recycled resin that spirals upwards from the base and finishes at an integrated handle. It’s signature kinked shape tilts the seat forward ever-so-slightly for comfort while also providing a ledge for feet.
Intended for longevity – to become an heirloom piece, if you will – Flump embraces the potential of post-consumer waste, digital craftsmanship and new manufacturing techniques in a truly wonderful way. It is currently available in four unadulterated off-pastel hues and two sizes, with aluminum, cork and stainless-steel versions to follow. Debuting at Alcova during Milan Design Week, Flump encapsulates Heirloom’s two main values – prioritizing both the past and future value of a material and joyous irreverence.
In honour of Earth Day, we’ve rounded up 7 products with a sustainable ethos — from tech to furnishings and everything in between.