Not just since Corona has online trade been booming - and so has the demand for packaging and cushioning materials. A nature-based innovation now offers an alternative to conventional cushioning materials and turns the packaging industry into a circular economy.
Instead of producing polymers synthetically, take what nature has already produced: A special technology can be used to extract biopolymers from agricultural residues - making them not only naturally degradable, but even edible.
Reuse instead of dispose - this also works for diapers. Modern cloth diapers outperform conventional alternatives in terms of environmental and skin compatibility.
Cosmetic products are often sold in plastic packaging. As a result, they generate more and more packaging waste.
Sounds paradoxical, but works brilliantly: Beetroot, often known as the cause of stubborn stains, qualifies as an ecological cleaning agent.
Instead of cotton pads and the like, sustainable makeup removal wipes are equally good for the skin and the environment.
Beer - a traditional German drink. Although beer consumption is declining, hardly any other country in the world records such high beer consumption as Germany.
When it comes to producing healthy and sustainable meat substitutes, there are no limits to creativity: Research is currently being conducted to develop an alternative made from apple residues.
As a sustainable alternative to the conventional insulation packaging made of polystyrene, straw enables to put an end to packaging waste in the parcel industry.
Our skin has to withstand quite a lot - heat and sun, cold and dryness, stress and wrong or no care. All too often, the right protection is neglected. Instead of body lotion, nourishing clothing made from seaweed is now supposed to help.
Finally, the time has come. The days are getting longer, the sunbeams warmer. Spring has arrived and the garden season begins. However, only a few plants are sown directly into the open field.
Leather is a material with excellent properties. Nevertheless, the purchase of leather goods is controversial, because leather from conventional animal breeding is not only CO2-intensive, but also needs large amounts of chemicals for tanning.
Barbecue fans love firing up the grill on balmy summer evenings. However, the cookout comes at the expense of nature: The charcoal used contributes to the massive destruction of forests.
Love cheeseburgers, but do not want to harm the environment? Now, you can satisfy your craving without eating meat. Plant-based burgers from the USA and Great Britain match the consistency and taste of their animal-based counterparts.
Coffee is the favorite drink in Germany. According to the German Coffee Association, 86% of all adults in Germany drink it every day or at least several times a week.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the "first automatic detergent" went on sale. It promised clean laundry after only 30 minutes at 95°C. Before that, the laundry had to be soaked, laboriously kneaded, rubbed, rinsed and wrung.
Decorating finger and toe nails is not a recent trend. The oldest proof for decorated nails is about 5000 years old and comes from China.
Along with nitrogen, phosphorus is one of the most important components in fertilizers. As the world's population grows, so does the demand for food and therefore for phosphorus. However, the resources are finite.
Sitting in a bar, drinking a cocktail and chewing on the plastic straw, which is then disposed of as a matter of course - there's hardly anything less sustainable. A German start-up now wants to change this and produces the straws from fruit residue.
Objects made of ferrous metals will develop rust over time, especially if they are not in constant use. Once rust has formed, there is no protection against further decomposition.