Due to the enormous damage we have done to the Earth, the need for eco-friendly alternatives to the items we use daily becomes increasingly urgent.
Therefore, innovators from various industries are currently trying to find new, sustainable ways to change our everyday habits and save the environment. The primary goal is to make household items functional and eco-friendly.
Julian Melchiorri, a young inventor, engineer, and entrepreneur, invented a product that brought him a Forbes recognition as a leading social entrepreneur in the EU under 30 years old in 2017. He also received an Emerging Talent Medal at the London Design Festival. The particular award is given out to people who've made an impact within five years of graduation.
He created a living, breathing chandelier that lights up the room and cleanses the air simultaneously.
At the festival, Melchiorri presented the chandelier that contained seventy glass leaves filled with green algae and is currently exhibited in the V&A Museum.
The algae in the bionic chandelier called Exhale absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. This chandelier is modular, so depending on necessity, its leaves can be made in various forms.
It can also can be put outdoors and indoors, but it is still a prototype.
Melchiorri has also created the Silk Leaf, which is a human-made plant that absorbs water and carbon dioxide (CO2) and produces oxygen.
In the last four years, Melchiorri, along with his team from London food tech startup Arborea, has been working on developing the BioSolar Leaf.
The product is designed from micro-algae, phytoplankton, and microscopic plants.
What is notable about it is that it purifies the air, provides electricity and grows proteins as well as sustainable food ingredients at the same time.
Melchiorri explained that the BioSolar Leaf panels would be excellent for generating electricity in crowded cities.
Their effects are now tested at ICL's West London White City campus.
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