Today’s Solutions: June 24, 2025

A New York designer, by the name of Charlotte McCurdy, has created a water-resistant jacket made from a bioplastic material derived entirely from large-celled algae. Because the jacket is made of algae, which is the single biggest capturer of CO2 from the atmosphere, it’s technically carbon-negative.

In order to make the jacket, the large-celled algae are bound together by heat and finally poured into molds which are custom-made to ensure the plastic survives the curing process. Once solidified, the algae plastic is given a thin coating of wax to improve its resistance to water.

What makes McCurdy’s raincoat especially cool is that, unlike other bioplastics, her material is entirely made of algae and not just “with some algae”. For example, she does not rely on foodstuffs, such as corn or sugar, for the jacket’s production, so as not to divert increasingly sparse resources from human consumption.

With the jacket, McCurdy hopes to show that the future of materials is not about no longer using petroleum-based plastic, but rather about “totally rethinking the source of carbon we make our plastics out of”.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

New rules allow thousands more Australians to donate plasma, regardless of se...

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a historic shift for both public health and LGBTQIA+ rights, Australia is lifting long-standing restrictions that effectively ...

Read More

Brewing better health: Harvard study explains what coffee has to do with agin...

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Your daily cup of coffee might be doing more than waking you up; it could be helping you ...

Read More

These solar-powered barges can scoop up 50 tons of plastic from rivers each day

While removing the plastic waste that currently contaminates the ocean today will be crucial for protecting marine ecosystems, it is arguably more important that ...

Read More

What cities can learn from Spokane’s approach to homelessness

The common approach cities take to deal with homelessness is tough enforcement: ticketing people for panhandling or sleeping in doorways or busing them to ...

Read More