Sustainability Research

Innovating today to make the earth better tomorrow

students in the dye garden

The Dye Garden

FIT’s natural dye garden was created on an FIT rooftop in 2014 as part of a student project presented to the Clinton Global Initiative University. The plants—including sunflowers, coreopsis, and marigolds—can provide nontoxic fabric dyes and are used in campus textile research. Incorporating composting, the dye garden promotes sustainable and eco-friendly dyeing practices and related research.

From fabric
to compost
and from
plants to dye

The Biodesign Challenge

Creating Materials of the Future

The Biodesign Challenge asks college students to envision new ways to harness living systems and biotechnology. It prepares artists and designers to work with emerging biotech, build collaborations, and engage the public with visions of future applications. FIT student teams have competed in the challenge every year since it began in 2016—and won the competition in its first year, creating an innovative, sustainable fiber out of algae and fungi.