Products Upcycled From CO₂ Emissions

Carbon dioxide emissions, those invisible villains hovering in the atmosphere, are no longer just environmental statistics in a report or distant worries for policymakers. They’re becoming raw material for the future of design. In a world where industries are racing to offset their carbon footprints, a quiet but extraordinary revolution is taking place, brands and creators are capturing CO₂ emissions and turning them into everyday objects, luxury items, and even personal care products. Turning pollution into ink, fragrance, and diamonds, here’s a closer look at some of the most creative brands leading this carbon-capture design revolution.

Air-Ink - Art from Air Pollution

Born out of a collision between science and art, Air-Ink is the world’s first ink made from carbon emissions. Co-founded by Anirudh Sharma and his team at Graviky Labs, this Bangalore-born innovation captures soot from car exhausts and upcycles it into rich, velvety black ink. Using a device called KAALINK, attached directly to vehicle exhausts, the system collects soot particles which are then purified and processed into a usable ink medium. The final product is pens, markers, and screen-printing materials that do much more than write, they prevent pollution from entering the air we breathe. Each 30ml Air-Ink pen offsets around 45 minutes of car pollution. They collaborate with artists around the world, turning this ink into art.

AIR Eau De Parfum - The  CO₂ Fragrance 

AIR Eau De Parfum by Air Company has created carbon-negative fragrance that uses NASA-awarded technology to convert captured CO₂ emissions into ethanol, a key component of perfume production. Through a patented process that mimics photosynthesis, Air Company captures carbon from the air, transforms it into pure ethanol, and uses it as the base for their perfume. Each bottle of AIR Eau De Parfum removes around 56 grams of CO₂ from the atmosphere, making luxury regenerative.

Gucci - Where My Heart Beats

When Italian luxury giant Gucci decided to experiment with carbon recycling, they didn’t just create another sustainability marketing campaign, they crafted a fragrance that captures the spirit of industrial transformation. Released in 2023, Where My Heart Beats is part of Gucci’s Alchemist’s Garden Collection and uses alcohol derived entirely from recycled carbon emissions. This is made possible through a collaboration with LanzaTech, a company specialising in capturing carbon from industrial sources and converting it into usable materials. This attempt by the world’s most celebrated fashion house is to view pollution not as waste, but as potential.

Aether Diamonds - CO₂ Diamonds

Diamonds have always carried a story of beauty, of rarity, of eternity. But Aether Diamonds adds a new chapter, one where the jewel on your finger is literally crystallised air. Using a patented process, Aether captures CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, purifies it, and then converts the carbon into lab-grown diamonds. The result is the world’s first carbon-negative diamond, luxury jewellery born from the sky.

The Unseen Beauty - Carbon Alternative

Black is the backbone of beauty products from eyeliners to mascaras, but few people realise that conventional black pigments often come from petroleum-based materials like crude oil or coal both toxic and environmentally damaging. Black carbon is a pollutant that has been used in makeup. To change this, London-based material science company The Unseen Beauty partnered with Living Ink to create an alternative. Their product Absorption introduces the world’s first non-toxic black pigment derived from upcycled algae biomass.

The future of design is producing less and in producing better. These brands are upcycling materials and challenging the way we view waste, reimagining pollution as a starting point rather than an end. In a world overwhelmed by consumption and waste, it’s brands like Air-Ink, Air Company, Gucci, Aether Diamonds, and The Unseen Beauty remind us that creativity thrives under constraint, drafting blueprints for the future.