Spring is a beautifully schizophrenic love affair. Gloriously sunny kisses one minute then in the same breath wild tempest tantrums. The inclemency has caught me unawares three times in the past week, my continual drenching has lead me to seek some kind of protection from the overly enthusiastic embrace of Spring.

Umbrellas seem like a poor choice, I see ragged carcasses poking out of every second bin on windy days. The makers of poor quality umbrellas will surely be haunted by these forlorn ghosts for ages to come.  (An irrelevant but interesting aside – my friend’s Viennese grandmother invented the folding umbrella, but the patent was ‘acquired’ by Nazis, who put it into production and made millions.) Raincoats are a less flimsy alternative, but I shudder to think of all the mouldy plastic festering for eternity in landfill.

This is a problem solved by G4E! A Spanish group dedicated to design that incorporates sustainability principles in their practice. They have developed a biodegradeable rain coat made from potatoes.

According to their website Equilicuá's waterproof textile is made of plastic derived from potatoes and other natural resources. It is a 100% biodegradable and compostable, ie at the end of its life cycle becomes converted entirely to the biosphere, in a cradle to cradle manner.

The rain coat is highly durable in normal wearing conditions, as it needs specific temperature, light and humidity conditions, usually found in soil, to start the biodegradation process.  To emphasise the biodegradable aspect, every raincoat comes with seeds, when you no longer need the rain coat you can plant it and grow herbs. The seed ball was developed by a Japanese microbiologist. Of course.

This also brings to mind biodegradable plastic materials, helping people to understand product lifecycles and think of possessions beyond the immediate usefulness.  The Spudcoat also comes with information on possible uses and the importance of knowing how to recognize and differentiate between plastic types. It also brings concepts of sustainable development in an easily accessible way into the lives of wearers.