Joe Luttwak is a designer, manufacturer, songwriter and backpacker, who began in the materials business initially in pursuit of a wood-free travel guitar. Using the knowledge gained working at Ferrari, he founded Blackbird Guitars to replace the disappearing ancient rainforest wood favored to make instruments. In 2013, he created the world’s first plant fiber composite, Ekoa®, to mold revolutionary musical instruments which are lighter than carbon fiber, more resonant than old-growth spruce, and have a higher strength-to-weight ratio than steel. Joe spun-off Lingrove with co-founder Desi Banatao in 2014 to offer Ekoa for other applications ranging from furniture to construction to car interiors. Lingrove develops materials from fast-growing CO2-negative plants to meet demand from the diminishing supply of high-quality wood. Natural fiber composites are an alternative to deforestation with the promise to also replace heavy, energy-embodied metal structures and help reverse climate change.