For decades now, there are many companies who aim to provide the world with not only environmentally friendly, but more importantly sustainable products, that take care of the economy, environment, and society. Needless to say, these companies and the individuals behind the innovations have a cradle-to-cradle mindset, to create products that are “circular.” This means that they design products made from materials and components that can be repurposed or recycled indefinitely.
There are many ongoing research and development on material innovations in the world right now. For this post, the discussion will focus on four—clay, bamboo, mycelium, and cork—which are some of the raw materials used for building construction and home products.
Clay
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This innovative passive cooling system uses 3D-printed ceramic bricks integrated with hydrogel, “a highly absorbent material capable of storing significant amounts of water, which can be rehydrated, even from ambient humidity” (Material District).
The innovator, designer Carolyn-Nelle Preston Ichniowski, developed this passive cooling system as part of her Master’s degree in Computational Architecture at The Royal Danish Academy (2024).
What is remarkable about this innovation is that she uses ancient passive cooling techniques using porous ceramics with digital fabrication and modern materials.
In the Philippines, where we usually rely on air-conditioning to make the temperature bearable, the use of hydro-ceramics in architecture that can be used on a much wider scale, would be an excellent alternative to beat the heat.
Learn more about passive design by clicking on this link.
Bamboo
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Bamboo needs no further introduction. It’s part of our tradition to use this material in many of our structures. Bamboo is known for its versatility flexibility, strength, and durability. It is also considered an excellent weather- and disaster-resistant structural material.
This material has undergone through so much innovation these last decades because it is a sustainable and renewable resource. It is also an ideal material to use when you want biophilic design. It can be used as cladding, panels, beams, flooring, etc.
If you don’t want to use unfabricated bamboo because you’re going for a more contemporary style, use engineered bamboo instead. An example would be this Filipino company called CUBO Modular Inc. that designs and builds homes made of engineered bamboo and other sustainable materials.
Mycelium
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Mycelium is the tiny “thread” that forms the root-like structure of a fungus. Usually the fungus used for research and development is a mushroom.
Mycelium is one of the important materials being studied for a couple of decades now. In 2006, it was explored as an eco-friendly material alternative. Because of its dense, interwoven network of hyphae (thread-like structure), materials that are lightweight and strong have been created. It can be used as a substitute for polystyrene and other plastics.
It is known as a living building material (LBM) that behaves like a living organism. Composites are used in construction (building components) and industrial design (household items). Today, it is also used in packaging, as a substitute for leather (like fabrics for clothing), wall coverings, insulation, and so much more.
Cork
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Cork has been around for ages. Wine drinkers among us see it often when they pop open a non-screw top bottle.
Cork has so many properties—thermal insulator, acoustic insulator, anti-microbial and hypoallergenic, elastic, ultra low permeability to gases and liquids, to name just a few—that it is used in so many practical applications.
It’s not only as a wine stopper that you see cork. It can be found in flooring and wall coverings, furniture, thermal insulation, exterior wall cladding, sports articles (e.g., baseballs, golf balls, shuttlecocks, ping pong rockets, dartboards, kayaks, surfboards), soles for shoes and sandals… The list is growing.
A company called Cooloo passionately believes in creating art, design, and industrial solutions within a circular economy, and calls this ethos Endless Life Technology. In their words, “Cooloo develops and creates circular furniture, sustainable interior projects and materials for construction, made from residual materials such as leather, cork, jeans or stone in combination with bio-based binders.”
Summary
There are many companies who are passionate about developing sustainable materials.
Many of these companies partner with like-minded orgnizations that use these materials to make things that we use, like building components, furniture and home accessories, packaging, including the things that we use every day like clothes and footwear.
The sheer number of choices we find in the world today is overwhelming. Not only do we buy them in physical stores, we can also purchase them in e-commerce companies like Shein, Temu, Shopee, and Lazada. In fact, the transactions that go through these channels every single day boggle the mind.
Just watch how our spending habits have changed through the years. Watch how the younger generation spend. Even in our social media news feed, we will find so much promotional activities going on to get us to part with our money. We’ve been appropriating holidays from other parts of the world because these are major selling periods for sellers to push stuff. Promos have been created every month from 1/1 to 12/12.
Let’s try to be aware of this almost hysterical consumerism that exists, and find where we stand on this issue. Do we want to go with the craze? Or do we want to build a sustainable future for us and the next generations?
It’s a good exercise to read up on those people and companies who truly care about sustainability, and maybe consider their eco-friendly products for our homes and personal needs. That’s our power.
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