CIRCULAZE Virtual Trend Tour Fashion & Textile – The Hurd Co.

According to The Hurd Co., the fashion industry cuts down 200 million trees – every year! To avoid deforestation the Californian start-up invented a material from agricultural waste called agrilose in 2019, mainly using hemp

The Hurd Co.

Founder/s:

Taylor Heisley-Cook, David Mun, Charles Cai, & Michael Gurin

Based In:

Los Angeles, CA, USA

What They Do: What to wear is not only a question of style (nor mood or weather), but of environmental consciousness. Materials like rayon, viscose, modal, or lyocell are traditionally made of wood pulp, purified cellulose. That requires trees. According to The Hurd Co., the fashion industry cuts down 200 million trees – every year! To avoid deforestation the Californian start-up invented a material from agricultural waste called agrilose in 2019, mainly using hemp. The plant is harvested for CBD and protein as well as traditional hemp fiber, but most of it is thrown away or burned. The Hurd Co. uses 70% of this waste for their pulping process needing half as much water and 350 times less energy than the conventional process. Additionally, they hand byproducts to partner facilities to make biofuels and bioplastics. A closed-loop that started as a thesis paper and now targets the big players in fashion, allowing consumers to make more sustainable choices.