sustainable material
Environmentally responsible substance
A sustainable material is one that can be produced, used, and disposed of without depleting natural resources or causing lasting environmental harm.
The term appears in discussions of manufacturing, construction, and product design: bamboo flooring is considered a sustainable material, the company switched to sustainable materials for its packaging.
What qualifies as sustainable depends on factors like renewability, energy use, and end-of-life disposal—making the term somewhat elastic in marketing contexts.
- hempIndustrial fiber crop
- bambooTall woody grass
- corkTree bark bottle seal
- recycled paperFiber reprocessed into sheets
- recycled plasticReprocessed synthetic material
wool · reclaimed wood · jute · organic cotton · natural fiber · cotton · flax · mycelium · timber · seagrass · biodegradable · natural rubber · rammed earth · upcycled · renewable resource · linen · engineered wood · green building
sustainable materialsingle-use plastic
Petroleum product meant for discard
polystyrene · Styrofoam · PVC
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