These men are using cactus to create a sustainable alternative to leather

Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez with their vegan leather.
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Adriano di Marte)

Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez wanted to create a vegan alternative to leather, and the answer was growing around them the whole time.

Because they were employed in the automotive and fashion industries in Mexico, López Velarde and Cázarez worked with a lot of leather. They realized how many natural resources go into making leather and how much is wasted every year, and sought to develop a new sustainable version.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.