Innovative sustainable materials

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in natural materials for manufacturing, textiles & construction amongst other things and substrates found in nature are now being crafted into innovative fibres with a new materiality. Vegan leather, for example, has been around for decades but is a synthetic substitute made from plastic. An eco innovation has seen a natural vegan leather developed from mycelium - the root network - of mushrooms. The mushroom filaments are able to be standardised during their processing and then imprinted with unique and beautiful textures to recreate the texture and feel of animal skins. Clothing, shoes & bags can now be fashioned from mushroom leather and textiles but there are further applications from interior decor to building insulation.

Another sustainable innovation has seen plastic bottles kept from landfill and the ocean and then recycled and repurposed. The process involves post consumer PET bottles being cleaned and processed into small flakes, heated and formed into continuous fine strands and then spun together to form high quality yarn. This recycled yarn is then woven to form silky ribbons that we use to adorn our all of our gift boxes at The Contented Bear.

Recycled paper takes 70% less energy to make than paper from virgin fibres and the fibres within paper can be recycled 5-7 times. The oldest mechanised paper mill in the world resides in Hertfordshire and is also the birthplace of mechanised recycled paper production, being the first mill to make paper solely from paper waste. Such pioneering efforts are still going strong at Frogmore Paper Mill including the making of banana fibre paper. Banana fibre paper has extraordinary potential as a renewable resource as unlike trees, banana plants take one year to grow. The fruit is harvested and the stems are cut back to enable fresh growth and fruiting for the following year. Subsequently the banana stems are a waste product but they contain really strong fibres that can be turned into beautiful and sustainable paper and we are currently working with Frogmore mill to create bespoke banana paper notepads.

Innovative sustainable materials are creative and inspiring answers to many pressing environmental issues and the more they become part of our daily lives the better!

Our luxurious and colourful 100% recycled plastic bottle ribbon

Banana fibres dried out and ready to use