This Sustainable Lampshade Will Make You See Veggies In a Whole New Light

The world is happy (literally) to see so many sustainable products replacing their former wasteful versions. Everything from organic bedding to green cleaning products —heck, even sustainable LEGO —are now available. The latest eco-friendly find is red cabbage lampshades, which are as functional as they are eye-catching.

Known as “ Veggie Lights ,” this compostable creation is a joint effort between Indian designer Vaidehi Thakkar and London-based Nir Meiri Studio. Thakkar discovered a way to convert vegetables into a paper-like material called Fiber Flats, while Meiri used his organic materials knowledge that he developed through creating different variations of veggie lampshades in the past. And so, the red cabbage lampshade came to be.

Here’s how it works: the cabbage leaves are separated and soaked in water-based color preservative, which allows the natural veins and color to pop. After shaping the leaves, they are dried in high temperatures, making sure the moisture evaporates. That’s really the gist of it—all that’s left to do is trim the edges or let the leaves stay all natural. And as time goes on, the leaves will age and break down, but the only thing that will need to be replaced is the red cabbage lampshade—the metal base is there to stay.

As mentioned above, this isn’t the first time Meiri created a lampshade with living materials. He’s invented the “ Marine Light ” made of seaweed and “ Mycelium Lights ” with the vegetative part of a fungus called mycelium. Now, he’s able to add “cabbage” to his growing light of sustainable lampshades.

With this success, it makes us wonder what other vegetables might be turned into lampshades in the future. Avocados? One can dream.