Goosedown out, bulrush in: the plant refashioning puffer jackets

By 2026, a rewetted peatland site in Greater Manchester will be harvesting bulrushes in a trial that aims to boost UK biodiversity, cut carbon emissions and provide eco-friendly stuffing for clothes

The humble bulrush does not look like the next big thing in fashion. Growing in marshes and peatland, its brown sausage-shaped heads and fluffy seeds are a common sight across the UK. Yet a project near Salford in north-west England is aiming to help transform the plant into an environmentally friendly alternative to the goosedown and synthetic fibres that line jackets, boosting the climate and the productivity of rewetted peatland in the process.

BioPuff, a new plant-based material manufactured by the startup Saltyco using reedmace - better known as bulrush - has a similar structure to feathers, providing warm, lightweight and water-resistant insulation, according to the firm.