第1718期:Designers Turn to Environment-friendly Materials

Designers are increasingly using different kinds of materials to produce products that do not harm the environment. Reused plastic bottles, wood, plant fiber, and even seaweed are being used in place of traditional materials for household goods and clothing.

设计师越来越多地使用不同种类的材料来生产对环境无害的产品。重复使用的塑料瓶、木材、植物纤维，甚至海藻都被用来代替传统的家居用品和服装材料。

Nina Edwards Anker’s sconces and chandeliers look like ancient pieces of paper placed around electronic lights known as LEDs. But a closer look shows that they are made of algae. Anker came up with the idea while working on a doctoral research project at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design.

Nina Edwards Anker 的烛台和枝形吊灯看起来就像放置在称为 LED 的电子灯周围的古老纸片。但仔细观察就会发现它们是由藻类制成的。 Anker 在奥斯陆建筑与设计学院从事博士研究项目时萌生了这个想法。

Anker chose not to hide the dried algae. “From the beginning, we wanted to keep the integrity of the material, and display its unique properties,” Anker said.↳ She is one of many designers thinking about traditional materials. She wants to find ways to mix design ideas with production and supply methods that do not use up resources.

Anker 选择不隐藏干藻。 “从一开始，我们就想保持材料的完整性，并展示其独特的特性，”Anker 说。↳ 她是众多考虑传统材料的设计师之一。她想找到将设计理念与不耗尽资源的生产和供应方法相结合的方法。

Heimtextil is an international trade show, or fair, for new textiles in Frankfurt, Germany. This year’s fair placed attention on making new products that came from reused materials. Olaf Schmidt is Heimtextil’s vice president of textiles and textile technology.↳ “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.

Heimtextil 是在德国法兰克福举办的新纺织品国际贸易展或展览会。今年的展会将重点放在使用回收材料制作新产品上。 Olaf Schmidt 是 Heimtextil 的纺织品和纺织技术副总裁。↳作为新瓷砖的原材料，”他说。

He added, “And there’s seaweed, used to produce acoustic mats and panels that provide great insulation, are fire-resistant and regulate humidity well...At the end of their life, the panels can be shredded and reused.” Fashion industry expert Veronika Lipar described the field’s most important change – a move to sustainability. She said, “The industry is trying to minimize its” effect “on the environment and no longer be the biggest polluter.”

他补充说，“还有海藻，用于生产隔音垫和隔音板，具有良好的隔音效果，具有防火性能，并且可以很好地调节湿度……在使用寿命结束时，可以切碎并重复使用这些面板。”时尚行业专家 Veronika Lipar 描述了该领域最重要的变化——向可持续发展的转变。她说，“该行业正在努力将其对环境的”影响“降到最低，不再是最大的污染者。”

Patagonia, North Face and Timberland are among the companies now using natural materials to produce goods. Italian company Frumat has developed a plant-based leather made from the waste created by apple juice makers. 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.

Patagonia、North Face 和 Timberland 等公司现在都在使用天然材料生产商品。意大利公司 Frumat 开发了一种植物皮革，由苹果汁制造商产生的废料制成。两位墨西哥开发商 Adrian Lopez Velarde 和 Marte Cazarez 使用胭脂仙人掌叶制作了一种他们称之为“Desserto”的皮革。新材料开发人员对仙人掌植物很感兴趣，因为它们可以生活在炎热的气候和贫瘠的土壤中。

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. 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.

Pinatex 帮助支持菲律宾的农场，利用菠萝收获时产生的废物生产材料，然后出售给制鞋、服装和其他产品的制造商。总部位于加利福尼亚州的 Bolt Threads 公司创造了 Mylo，这是一种以菌丝体为基础的皮革，被 Adidas、Lululemon 和设计师 Stella McCartney 等公司使用。