Once heralded as the material of the future, plastic is cheap to produce, versatile, and relatively lightweight. And those optimists weren’t wrong either, because unlike organic substances, plastic can last for centuries, long after its useful life.

However, the negative impact of petroleum-based synthetics has prompted a call-to-action, spurring innovation when it comes to designing materials similar to plastic, just without the drawbacks of environmental destruction.

That includes many of the researchers and engineers revisiting materials they can easily find in nature. Michigan-based startup Pivot, formerly Spectalite, is one firm exploring the use of bamboo, rice hulls, and other organic substances to create biodegradable and composite materials that replace or reduce plastic in a variety of applications, like cutlery, tableware, bags, packaging, shipping pallets, and car parts.