An alternative to plastic that combats ocean acidification, encourages biodiversity, sequesters carbon and is fully compostable.
"Plastic alternatives fail to catch on for various reasons. Cost is a big one since no one will want to switch to anything more costly than the ever-affordable plastic. For manufacturers, a material that requires entirely new machinery or systems is a huge undertaking. And aside from that, whatever gets used has to be durable and look good. Nothing quite ticks all the boxes, so brands continue to use plastic despite the fact that our planet is swimming in it.
"Julia Marsh found that seaweed, however, makes an excellent plastic substitute. She spoke with agriculturists, visited seaweed farms in Indonesia and down into South America, researching the kind of regenerative ocean farming and environmental impact seaweed can have. Her findings? Where producing plastic causes harm in every part of the process (from manufacturing to long after its use), seaweed only uplifts and regenerates natural and human-built systems at every step."
Article: How Sway’s Seaweed Material May Replace Single-Use Plastic and Lead a Design Revolution