This one is a very nice idea for a sustainable and throwable rain coat. Equilicuá’s Spud Raincoat is made from potato starch and impregnated with seeds, making it fully biodegradable, compostable and suitable for planting.
It’s one thing for a cardboard box to be infused with seeds and designed for planting at the end of its useful life. It’s quite another, however, to see a similar concept in something made from plastic. However, it’s no ordinary plastic used in Equilicuá’s Spud Raincoat — rather, the PVC alternative is made from potato starch and fully biodegradable, compostable and suitable for planting.
Equilicuá’s Spud Raincoat can be reused numerous times, its maker says, since it’s only biodegradable under specific conditions. Available in white with red print, the poncho-style garment is priced at EUR 15. Once the user is done with it, however, the Spud Raincoat can be planted in the ground. Not only is its potato starch-based “Fantastic Bioplastic” fully compostable, but — through a collaboration with La Fundación + árboles — it’s been impregnated with the seeds of various Mediterranean plants and shrubs. For that reason, in fact, Equilicuá currently distributes the raincoat only in the European Union and Mediterranean countries where the seeds are native; coming soon are versions with seeds derived from other parts of the world.
Green innovations are no longer just the reserve of obvious ecological offenders such as those in the automotive industry. No matter what your product or service, there’s no longer any excuse for not doing it greener. This sustainable idea is the ideal way for us here in the Philippines to practice specially for the entrepreneurs.
