sustainability

Interdisciplinary designer Iris van Herpen has partnered with Magnum ice cream to create the world’s first vegan, haute couture dress made from cocoa beans. Van Herpen is known for her integration of technology into fashion, and Magnum’s entry into haute couture is another step in the brand’s embrace of sustainability.

Waste cocoa bean husks from the production of chocolate were transformed into an organic, vegan biopolymer material. The design was then 3D printed before being finished by hand with upcycled organza, copper coating, and intricate, plant-inspired details.

The used gum is cleaned, treated with a stabilising agent, heated and remoulded to form skateboard wheels

Efforts to rid city streets of chewing gum are as old as gum itself. Modern chewing gum is made from synthetic rubbers that can take 50 years to start decomposing, making it a long-term mess. Now, two students at the School of Design in Nantes, France, have developed a plan to collect wads of used chewing gum and repurpose it into skateboard wheels.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a new type of cooling cube that could revolutionize how food is kept cold and shipped fresh without relying on ice or traditional cooling packs. 

These plastic-free, “jelly ice cubes” do not melt, are compostable and anti-microbial, and prevent cross-contamination. 

“When ice melts, it’s not reusable,” said Gang Sun, a professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. “We thought we could make a so-called solid ice to serve as a cooling medium and be reusable.” 

Mootral, a Swiss AgriTech startup, produces a natural animal feed supplement that significantly reduces methane emissions from ruminants – animals that chew their cud, like sheep and cattle. Mootral’s innovative technology is tackling climate change, one cow at a time.