A timber shortage in France has forced prices up as architects struggle to comply with a new environmental law that requires public buildings to be 50 per cent wood. More about French architects face wood shortage with "prices going up every week"
Sawdust is mixed with a natural tree-sap binder and 3D printed into complex, swirling geometries to form this homeware collection, designed by Yves Béhar for additive manufacturing company Forust. More about Yves Béhar 3D prints Forust homeware from reclaimed wood waste
Berlin design students Lobke Beckfeld and Johanna Hehemeyer-Cürten have developed a translucent fruit-leather bag that dissolves in water and can be used to fertilise plants once it is no longer needed. More about Sonnet155 is a "temporary handbag" made from discarded fruit peels
To mark Earth Day, we've rounded up seven materials that designers are using to replace more polluting mainstays such as plastic, concrete and leather in a bid to limit the impacts of climate change. More about Seven key materials designers are relying on to create more sustainable products
Researchers at Purdue University have developed an "ultra-white" paint that reflects 98 per cent of sunlight and deflects infrared heat, allowing buildings to cool below the surrounding air temperature. More about "Whitest paint on record" reflects 98 per cent of sunlight to cool buildings
Central Saint Martins graduates Brigitte Kock and Irene Roca Moracia have collaborated to create concrete-like tiles that give new "economic and ecological" value to invasive species. More about Researchers create bio-concrete from weeds and crayfish shells
Construction technology company Mighty Buildings has announced plans to build 15 homes using prefabricated 3D-printed panels in Rancho Mirage, California. More about Mighty Buildings plans neighbourhood of 3D-printed homes for California
French luxury house Hermès has partnered with biomaterials company MycoWorks to reimagine its Victoria shopper bag in a leather alternative grown from mycelium. More about Hermès creates mycelium version of its classic leather Victoria bag
San Francisco-based footwear brand Allbirds is set to introduce what it claims is the first leather alternative entirely made from plant-based ingredients. More about Allbirds to make shoes using plant-based leather to help "eradicate petroleum from the fashion industry"
Fashion designer Phillip Lim has teamed up with industrial designer Charlotte McCurdy to create a petroleum-free dress covered in bioplastic sequins. More about Phillip Lim and Charlotte McCurdy adorn couture dress with algae sequins to avoid "reaching for polyester"
Israeli designer Erez Nevi Pana used five tons of salt from the Dead Sea to create his Crystalline collection, which showcases how the material can be used as building blocks. More about Erez Nevi Pana constructs "small-scale architecture" from Dead Sea salt
New York artist Hugo McCloud has created a series of artworks that contain no paint or glue, only thousands of small plastic pieces cut from single-use bags and melted together to form a motif. More about Hugo McCloud’s artworks use plastic bags instead of paint
Cities could help stop climate change by imitating natural processes that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to architect Michael Pawlyn. More about Biomimicry could lead to cities that "deliver net benefits" in the fight against climate change
Dezeen Showroom: performance fabric manufacturer Ultrafabrics has launched six new colours for its bio-based animal hide alternative Volar Bio. More about Ultrafabrics releases six new Volar Bio colours
Researchers from Kyoto University are developing a satellite made from wood that would burn up completely at the end of its life to reduce the amount of human-made waste floating in space. More about Kyoto University develops world's first wooden satellite in bid to reduce space waste
Six Swedish design studios have produced items and materials from industrial waste, including pedestals made from ash and flowerpots from apples, for an exhibition in Malmö, Sweden. More about Swedish designers create products from waste materials for Metabolic Processes for Leftovers exhibition
Engineering student Carvey Ehren Maigue has been named the James Dyson Awards first-ever global sustainability winner for his AuReus system, in which waste crops are turned into cladding that can generate clean energy from ultraviolet light. More about Solar panels made from food waste win inaugural James Dyson Sustainability Award
Barcelona-based startup Honext has developed a sustainable construction board material made from a combination of enzymes and cellulose taken from the waste streams of paper production. More about Honext develops recyclable construction material made of cellulose fibres from waste paper
Danish designer Sara Martinsen has explored the vast potential of plant fibres in the world of architecture and design at her Phytophilia exhibition at A Petersen in Copenhagen. More about Sara Martinsen creates library of plant fibres to support sustainable manufacturing
UK company Metalysis has been awarded a European Space Agency (ESA) contract to develop technology that turns lunar rock into oxygen and building materials, which could enable astronauts to set up a base on the moon. More about Metalysis to extract oxygen from moon rock to support future lunar habitation