What if you could create a sustainable form of vegan leather that helped the economy, protected wildlife, and looked incredible?
That’s exactly what leather expert Carmen Hijosa is doing with her startup, Ananas Anam, and their innovative new textile: Piñatex.
If that name makes you think of piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, it’s with good reason: Piñatex is made out of the fibers of pineapple leaves, creating a natural textile from what would have otherwise been considered waste.
What Is Vegan Leather?
Vegan leather is an animal-free alternative to traditional leather. And while saving animals is a worthwhile cause, Hijosa’s textile has an added benefit: it’s remarkably eco-friendly. This is a huge perk in light of other faux leathers, which can be made of a range of materials like cork, glazed cotton, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyurethane.
The leather-making process tends to involve hazardous chemicals, which can disrupt environments and ecosystems when they end up in wastewater. Additionally, reducing our use of leather also reduces our carbon footprint.
Instead of having to feed massive amounts of animals, Piñatex repurposes the by-product of the pineapple harvest to create strong, flexible textiles. So, the process does not require any extra land, water, fertilizers, or pesticides — which means that it’s ultra-sustainable.
Piñatex: Good For Everyone
In fact, Hijosa’s product is a boon for local economies. Ananas Anam pays pineapple farmers to separate the leaves into the fibers that will become Piñatex, and the leftover material can be used as biomass, creating a virtually zero-waste product.
It’s upscaling in its finest form. To learn more about Piñatex and Hijosas’s vision, check out the video below.
Would you buy shoes made out of pineapples? Do you wear vegan leather? Let us know in the comments!
Rebecca writes about green technology, sustainability, and big ideas. She graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a degree in Creative Writing. She lives in sunny San Diego. Follow her on Twitter at @beccawriteswhat.
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