[Guardian] ould you buy a shirt that has been through the back end of a cow? This could be a future fabric choice according to one Dutch startup, which is extracting cellulose from cowpats to make "manure couture".Jalila Essaïdi believes that a non-vegan future will involve recycling cow manure into cellulose fibre, bioplastics, chemical concentrates and pure water ‐ and being less squeamish about it, too.
"Like a lasagne of manure, you need to make something out of it," she says. "We see manure as a waste material, something disgusting and smelly. But oil [used to make fibre] isn’t clean and beautiful at the beginning. You really have to show people the hidden beauty if you transform this cellulose."
It is just one of a range of innovations seeking new materials for old applications, as the world tries to wean itself off dirty habits like plastics and hydrocarbons and embrace new technologies.