From British Vogue, June 8, 2023:
Why We Could All Be Wearing Seaweed One Day
Would you wear a dress made out of seaweed? As the fashion industry ramps up its efforts to reduce its impact on the planet, algae is emerging as a more sustainable alternative to the likes of cotton and polyester, thanks to its ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact, a 2019 study found that it can absorb up to 20 times the amount of CO2 as plants.
“Seaweed grows abundantly in its natural habitat, and ours is harvested through a gentle, regenerative process, leaving its ecological value retained,” Dr Amanda Parkes, chief innovation officer at Pangaia – which first introduced seaweed into its collections back in 2019 – tells Vogue. “The resulting fibre is completely biodegradable.“
It’s not just brands like Pangaia that are recognising the benefits of seaweed. Scarlett Yang, a Central Saint Martins graduate and winner of LVMH’s Maison/0 Green Trail Award, combines algae with other ocean-based materials to create her 3D-printed bio-based fabrications. “The natural qualities and characteristics of algae and other bio materials allow us to design with the life cycle of the material in mind,” the designer explains. “It’s a very versatile material; we can fabricate intricate designs on shapes, textures and colours with our digital creative processes.”
Still, it remains a challenge to use seaweed at scale....
....MUCH MORE
Some 2023 headlines:
Seaweed Is Having Its Moment in the Sun - The New York Times
Mar 15, 2023 Today, seaweed is suddenly a hot global commodity. It's attracting new money and new purpose in all kinds of new places because of its potential to help tame some of the hazards of the modern...
In California it's peak seaweed season. Let's go foraging
Jul 21, 2022 Food In California it's peak seaweed season. Let's go foraging July 21, 20225:07 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Chad Campbell 3-Minute Listen Playlist Many beachgoers have probably seen...
Huge masses of foul-smelling seaweed in the Caribbean could cause ...
Mar 25, 2023 Science Huge masses of foul-smelling seaweed in the Caribbean could cause headaches for sun-seekers There have been record sargassum blooms in areas in the Caribbean and south Atlantic Ocean...
Why 'seaweed is definitely having a moment' - AccuWeather
Seaweed is eaten by humans all over the world and is also in medicine and cosmetics. Now, experts are saying the superfood has super powers when it comes to climate change impacts in the ocean and ...
Can seaweed really help fight global warming? Here's what we know so far.
Dec 21, 2023 Seaweed mostly absorbs carbon dissolved in seawater - not atmospheric carbon. That means conditions have to be right to result in climate change benefits. Carbon sequestration by seaweed is variable and difficult to measure because of the complexity of
