Kelp help? How Scotland’s seaweed growers are aiming to revolutionise what we buy

Farmed kelp could produce plastic substitutes, beauty products and food supplements. Just steer clear of seaweed chocolate

• Photographs by Christian Sinibaldi, words by Joanna Moorhead

Think sun, sea, Skye - and seaweed. It's early summer off the west coast of Scotland, and Alex Glasgow is landing a long string of orangey-black seaweed on to the barge of his water farm. It emerges on what looks like a washing line heavy with dirty rags, hoicked up from the depths. And yet, this slippery, shiny, salty substance might, just might, be going to save the planet.

When it comes to sustainability, seaweed is about as shipshape as it gets. Minimal damage to the environment, check. No use of pesticides, check. Diversifies ocean life, check. Uses no land, check. And, in the case of Skye's seaweed farm, spoils no one's view, check.

Kyla Orr and Martin Welch of KelpCrofters check the crop from their boat