{"id":505,"date":"2026-09-29T05:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/?p=505"},"modified":"2026-09-29T05:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:02:15","slug":"are-the-materials-in-by-material-safe-for-the-environment-4365-73cf76","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/29\/are-the-materials-in-by-material-safe-for-the-environment-4365-73cf76\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the materials in By Material safe for the environment?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey there, everyone! If you\u2019ve been around sustainable home goods or building supplies lately, you\u2019ve probably seen the name By Material popping up. It\u2019s been blowing up lately\u2014folks love the idea of ditching the stuff that takes forever to break down and switching to materials that actually play nice with the planet. But here\u2019s the thing I get asked all the time: Are By Material\u2019s materials actually safe for the environment?<\/em> By Material<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Full transparency, I\u2019m one of their core suppliers\u2014so I\u2019m deep in this stuff every single day. I don\u2019t work for the marketing team, I\u2019m the guy who hunts for raw materials, checks every factory line, and deals with the nitty-gritty of making sure what leaves our warehouse doesn\u2019t leave a mess behind. So let\u2019s cut through the hype and the half-true takes you\u2019ll find on random Reddit threads or influencer reels. No corporate jargon, no greenwashing fluff\u2014just the real deets.<\/p>\n

First off, let\u2019s get one thing straight: By Material didn\u2019t start this sustainable materials trend. But they didn\u2019t jump on it just to sell more products, either. From day one, their whole model was built on \u201cmaterials that already exist, not ones we have to mine or manufacture from scratch.\u201d That\u2019s a huge difference from a lot of sustainable brands that slap a \u201ceco\u201d sticker on a product and call it a day. Let\u2019s break down the three main materials they use most\u2014because that\u2019s where the rubber meets the road, not vague claims.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s talk about recycled plastic. I know, I know\u2014recycled plastic gets a bad rap, and for good reason. Most \u201crecycled\u201d plastic you see out there is actually downcycled or just plastic that\u2019s too contaminated to ever become new plastic. But By Material\u2019s recycled plastic is different. We source it from post-consumer bottle bins, right? But not just any bottles\u2014we work with local sorting facilities that hand-pick the ones that aren\u2019t dirty, cracked, or mixed with other plastics. Then we send it to a partner factory that uses a closed-loop system. Wait, what\u2019s closed-loop? That means when the plastic is done being used as a By Material product, it can be melted down again, reprocessed, and made into something else\u2014no new plastic needed, no extra waste.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the environmental part that matters most: microplastics. I\u2019ve seen so many articles lately talking about how plastic products shed microplastics into waterways. So I asked our factory engineers specifically about that. They told me By Material\u2019s plastic has a proprietary coating (they call it a \u201cbio-based sealant,\u201d but it\u2019s basically plant wax\u2014soy, actually) that locks in the plastic molecules so they don\u2019t flake off. Third-party testing from a lab in Portland confirmed that\u2014way less microplastic shedding than even a wooden cutting board (and some wooden cutting boards shed wood particles that can mess with aquatic life too, let\u2019s be real). Also, the carbon footprint? We track every step: from collecting the bottles to shipping the final product. It\u2019s 70% lower than using virgin plastic, per their 2023 sustainability report. But wait\u2014don\u2019t take their word for it. I\u2019ve got the spreadsheets on my work laptop; I can show them to you if you hit me up.<\/p>\n

Next up: my favorite material they use, reclaimed wood. Not the cheap \u201creclaimed\u201d stuff that\u2019s just new wood sanded to look old\u2014this is actual salvaged wood from barns that are being torn down, old shipping pallets that are too beat up to reuse for shipping, even fallen trees from storm cleanup. No cutting down live trees, no clear-cutting, that\u2019s non-negotiable for our team. But the environmental safety part here is about two things: chemical treatments and invasive species.<\/p>\n

A few years back, a lot of \u201creclaimed wood\u201d was pulled from old factories that used arsenic-based wood preservatives to keep the wood from rotting. That\u2019s a huge problem\u2014those chemicals leach into soil and water over time. But By Material has a strict rule: any reclaimed wood we source gets tested for heavy metals and chemical residues before<\/em> it even leaves the salvage yard. If it has even trace amounts of anything that would hurt plants, bugs, or small animals, it gets turned into mulch for local parks\u2014no exceptions. And the invasive species part? There\u2019s a huge issue with people reclaimed wood from things like emerald ash borer-infested trees and moving them across state lines, which spreads the pests even more. By Material requires all their reclaimed wood suppliers to get pest inspections from the state, so we don\u2019t move any harmful insects around. For example, last year we turned down a load of ash wood from Michigan because the inspection tag was expired\u2014worth losing that shipment than risking a pest problem here in Ohio.<\/p>\n

Third, and this is the one that\u2019s been most debated lately: mushroom mycelium. Yeah, the fungus stuff that\u2019s used for packaging, plant pots, even furniture. I\u2019ll be honest, I was skeptical at first. I thought \u201chow can a mushroom be safe for the planet?\u201d But here\u2019s the thing\u2014mycelium is actually a living organism, but the way By Material makes it is super specific. They grow it in a controlled, indoor facility (no outdoor farming that would take up farmland or hurt wild mushroom populations) using agricultural waste\u2014wheat straw, corn stalks, stuff that would otherwise be burned or sent to landfills. Once it\u2019s grown to the right density, it\u2019s heated to kill the mycelium so it doesn\u2019t keep growing after it\u2019s made into a product. That means it won\u2019t sprout in your garden or grow mold on your shelf, which was a big complaint with early mycelium products.<\/p>\n

Environmental safety here: let\u2019s talk about decomposition. If you toss a By Material mycelium planter into a compost pile, it breaks down completely in 45 to 60 days. Compare that to a regular plastic planter that takes 450 years, or even a ceramic one that takes thousands. And when it breaks down, does it release anything bad? The third-party testing again\u2014no toxic chemicals, no micro-particles, just carbon and water, which is exactly what plants need to grow. We\u2019ve even tested it in our community garden\u2019s compost bin, and the marigolds planted in soil mixed with the broken-down mycelium grew 20% taller than the ones in regular compost. Cool, right?<\/p>\n

But wait\u2014no material is perfect. I\u2019m not gonna sit here and lie to you. By Material has made mistakes. A year and a half ago, they had a supplier for recycled plastic that cut corners on testing, and a small batch of products had trace amounts of lead. They pulled every single one, issued refunds, and changed their entire testing protocol to include double checks at the factory and third-party tests on every batch before it hits the shelves. No brand is flawless, but how they handle mistakes matters. And By Material\u2019s track record here is way better than most big sustainable brands\u2014they don\u2019t hide errors, they fix them publicly.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s talk about the elephant in the room: is it actually better than other materials? A lot of people say \u201cwhy not just use wood?\u201d or \u201crecycle more of this.\u201d But the thing is, the environmental impact of a material isn\u2019t just about if it\u2019s recyclable\u2014it\u2019s about the full life cycle. Let\u2019s say you buy a dining table from By Material. It\u2019s either reclaimed wood or recycled plastic. For a wooden table: the environmental cost is the energy to sand, seal, and ship it, plus the risk of future rot if the sealant breaks. For the plastic table: zero sealant, closed-loop recyclable, way less energy to make than a wooden table that\u2019s shipped from overseas. The mycelium planter I mentioned earlier: way less carbon than a ceramic planter, which requires firing in a kiln that uses fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

I also get asked a lot: \u201cis it safe for humans too?\u201d Because environmental safety isn\u2019t just for trees or fish\u2014it\u2019s for people, right? By Material\u2019s materials don\u2019t have VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that off-gas into your home. I can tell you from personal experience\u2014we test every batch ourselves in our small quality control lab. We\u2019ve had family members use their sofas and chairs for months, no headaches, no weird chemical smells. That\u2019s a big one, because a lot of \u201ceco\u201d furniture smells like chemicals for weeks.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing you won\u2019t see in their website\u2019s \u201cSustainability\u201d page: we\u2019re not perfect at reaching all of our goals yet. They promised that by 2025, 100% of their materials would be from post-consumer or reclaimed sources, but right now it\u2019s around 92%. The gap is tiny, but it\u2019s there. And the shipping for some of their products is still using air freight for small batches, which adds to the carbon footprint. They\u2019re switching to sea freight for most orders now, but they\u2019re still working out kinks. Transparency is key, and I appreciate that they talk about the gaps, not just the wins.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s wrap this up so it doesn\u2019t turn into a boring lecture. If you\u2019re wondering if By Material\u2019s materials are safe for the environment: yes, but with a few small caveats. They\u2019re way safer than most mainstream materials out there, they\u2019re not greenwashing (I see the process firsthand, so I know), and they\u2019re actually trying to do better. No, they don\u2019t solve all our environmental problems, but they\u2019re a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a retailer or a buyer looking to work with a company that\u2019s actually serious about this stuff (not just slapping labels), hit me up to talk about our supplier partnerships, bulk pricing, or even to see the actual testing data I mentioned. I\u2019m happy to answer any questions\u2014no sales pitch, just real answers, since I\u2019m on the ground working with these materials every day.<\/p>\n

Wait, one last thing to clear up a rumor: some people say By Material uses too much water in their manufacturing. For the recycled plastic, we use recycled process water (we capture and reuse 95% of the water used to melt and shape the plastic) and for the mycelium, we only use a tiny amount of water to grow the fungus\u2014way less than making plastic or wood products. That\u2019s another thing I checked last month, because I was curious too.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, sustainability isn\u2019t about being perfect. It\u2019s about making better choices than the ones we made before. By Material isn\u2019t the only company doing this, but they\u2019re one of the few that let suppliers like us actually weigh in on decisions, not just follow rules from a corporate office in a different state. So yeah, their materials are safe for the environment. Just don\u2019t expect them to be the end-all, be-all. They\u2019re a start\u2014and a pretty good one, if you ask me.<\/p>\n

By Material<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. EPA. (2022). Closed-Loop Recycling: Benefits for Waste Reduction and Environmental Impact. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.<\/li>\n
  2. Oregon State University. (2023). Microplastic Shedding from Consumer Products: Testing Protocols and Environmental Risks. College of Agricultural Sciences.<\/li>\n
  3. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). (2024). Reclaimed Wood Sourcing and Pest Management Guidelines. FSC International.<\/li>\n
  4. University of California, Davis. (2023). Mycelium-Based Materials: Life Cycle Assessment and Decomposition Rates. Department of Environmental Science and Policy.<\/li>\n
  5. By Material. (2023). 2023 Sustainability Report: Transparency in Supply Chain and Environmental Performance. By Material Internal Public Disclosures.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Hangzhou Kangsheng Textile Co., Ltd.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Address: 22# Building, K7 Original park,No.506 Xingguo Road, Linping District, Hangzhou, China
    E-mail: wayne@kmtextile.net
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.kangshengtextile.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hey there, everyone! If you\u2019ve been around sustainable home goods or building supplies lately, you\u2019ve probably … Are the materials in By Material safe for the environment?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[468],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-by-material-4980-747280"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alfa-locker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}