14 DAY TRIAL // Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, graduates of mechanical engineering and design schools, are the founders of Ecovative Design, a company that specializes in finding green substitutes for materials harmful to the environment, such as plastics and foams.
As of lately, they set their minds on a rather odd idea: that of replacing the plastic foam usually used for packaging with a new material, whose main “ingredient” is to be mycelium. For those unaware, “mycelium” is basically a fancy word for the roots of a mushroom.
Apparently, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre first thought about starting work on such a project when they realized that mycelium was not only extremely stretchy, but also quite capable of taking the shape of the plastic molds it is placed in.
As greenerideal.com reports, it took the two researchers quite a while before they managed to come up with the perfect “recipe” for this new packaging option, as they had to mix and match various mushroom types before the end result suited all or at least most of their criteria.
What is interesting is that, once Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre start telling you about the technology they use to make these wrapping-mushrooms, it becomes quite clear that this is by no means a difficult thing to do: pasteurized plant stalks or seed husks are mixed with mycelium, and then made to take the shape of a given mold.
Five days later, your environmentally friendly box is dried using heat so as to kill all traces and fungus, and ready to use.
For the time being, the only problem with this project is that those who wish to buy this mycelium-based packaging material need to let go of considerable amounts of money.
However, both scientists who came up with this idea argue that, once there is an increase in the number of mushroom-boxes they can produce on a daily basis, prices will also be lowered.