What would you say if we told you that one solution to fashion’s environmental impact grows underwater? Or that a group of shiny, slimy ribbons, otherwise known as algae, have the ability to help fashion pivot from environmental disaster to an industry that creates a genuine, positive impact?
For the most part, you’d probably call bullshit, or at least sound the greenwashing clickbait alarm. And while you’d partly be right (there is no one solution here, especially not without addressing the critical issue of overproduction first), there is research underway that backs these statements up.
If you’re at least marginally interested in sustainability, it’s likely that you’ve heard about the many benefits of algae, the group of simple aquatic plants that grow in oceans, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. It seems as though everyone is jumping on the algae bandwagon at the moment. As The New York Times recently observed, the plants have gone from centuries of near-global neglect to a worldwide hot commodity, leaped upon as an important source of food, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetic additives, and a promising source for developing biofuels and bioplastics. And for the last few years, a number of design innovators have been exploring its potential within the fashion industry, too.
Why? Because algae is a carbon-sucking powerhouse. According to researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Biology, brown algae is a “wonder plant” that has the power to counteract global warming. As loungewear brand Pangaia’s Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. Amanda Parker tells us: it’s “an incredible organism that grows abundantly and regeneratively in the ocean. It plays a vital role in capturing carbon for the planet, as the only organism which photosynthesizes in all of its cells (other plants photosynthesize only in their leaves) it provides at least 50 percent of the earth’s oxygen.”
In other words, algae remove carbon dioxide from the air…
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