At the beginning of each summer, coastal cities in Greece spend thousands of dollars cleaning up dead seagrass that washes up on the country’s beaches. Tourism officials see it as an eyesore and are more than happy to send tons of it to local landfills.
But to Greek startup Phee, the dead leaves of the vascular sea plant known as Posidonia oceanica make beautiful iPhone and iPad cases.
This year, Phee collected nearly 200 tons of the washed-up grass, considered to be the Earth’s oldest living organism, for its products
Photo: Phee
Phee developed eco-friendly resins and adhesives to bind the seagrass and make what the company calls “Phee board.” For now, Phee makes cases for iOS devices, sunglasses, boxes and paddles for beach paddle ball.
But company founder Starvos Tsompandidis sees Phee board as useable across a variety of industries, including furniture, packaging, interior design and other kinds of accessories normally made from plastics and wood.
A number of tech accessories companies make products with recycled or repurposed material, including wood from fallen trees. Phee appears to be the first to bring new life to dead seagrass.
Both the iPhone and iPad cases cost around $34 and can be ordered on the Phee website.
David Pierini is a former newspaper writer and long-time photographer. Considered a luddite by most of his friends, they did not believe him when he broke the news that he would be writing for a technology website. He is fascinated by human nature and would love to cultivate stories about the people driving the tech bus. Reach out to him at [email protected].
