The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of May 23rd, 2018

#5 Cali company uses flax fiber to make ukuleles, fishing rods

In San Francisco, entrepreneur Joe Luttwak has developed a carbon fiber substitute for goods like chairs and guitars that helps prevent deforestation of old-growth trees such as spruce.

Luttwak tells Fast Company the material—dubbed Ekoa—is made from flax linen fiber and plant-based resin. Ekoa is moldable, lighter, and more sustainable than carbon fiber. He first used the material to produce a small ukulele, but Luttwak has since expanded it into chairs, fishing rods, and canoe paddles. Skateboards will be the next prototype, and eventually the material could be used in automobiles and bicycles, Luttwak adds.