VOA健康报道2023--Designers Turn to Environment-friendly Materials

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 fiber¹, and even seaweed are being used in place of traditional materials for household goods and clothing.

Unusual materials

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 algae².

Anker came up with the idea while working on a doctoral research project at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design.

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.

A show for new materials in Germany

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 vice³ president of textiles and textile technology.

"We'll see companies demonstrating how inorganic⁴ materials like nylon, plastic and metal can be reused – for example, carpet tiles that can be dismantled⁶ at the end of their life and used as a raw material for new tiles," he said.

He added, "And there's seaweed, used to produce acoustic⁷ mats and panels that provide great insulation⁸, are fire-resistant and regulate humidity well...At the end of their life, the panels can be shredded⁹ 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."

Many companies using other materials

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 makers¹⁰.

Two Mexican developers, Adrian Lopez Velarde and Marte Cazarez, have created a leather they call "Desserto" using nopal cactus¹¹ leaves. Cactus plants are of interest to new material developers because they can live in hot climates and poor soil.

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.

Words in This Story

sconce – n. an object that is attached to a wall and that holds a candle or an electric light

chandelier – n. a large, decorated light that hangs from a ceiling and has branches for holding many light bulbs or candles

doctoral –adj. related to the highest degree given by a university

integrity – n. the state of being complete or whole

unique – adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else

textile – n. a material that is woven or knit

dismantle⁵ –v. to take an object apart or to break something down

acoustic – adj. of or relating to sound or to the sense of hearing

mat – n. a small piece of material used to cover the floor or ground

fashion –n. related to the industry of making things that people wear

insulation – n. a material or substance that is used to stop heat, electricity, or sound from going into or out of something : a material that insulates something

mycelium – n. a group of fungal threads

1 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

2 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 inorganic   

adj.无生物的；无机的

参考例句：

• The fundamentals of inorganic chemistry are very important.无机化学的基础很重要。
• This chemical plant recently bought a large quantity of inorganic salt.这家化工厂又买进了大量的无机盐。

5 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

6 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

7 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

8 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

9 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。