As if Paul Stamet’s investigations into mushroom remediation techniques, pesticides, and medical properties was not enough I discovered this other ted talk about amazing technology in which mushroom plastics could replace harmful plastics. This is exactly the type of research I would like to take place in my building. These natural plastics are currently in market and share the same physical properties as polysyrene packaging (packaging is about 30% by volume of our landfill waste and doesn’t degrade and is not recycled.) The difference is the mushroom plastics are bio degradable and could even result in mushroom growth after disposal. Additionally these plastics grow themselves in 5 days, have 100% biological yield, and they do not need intensive practices in order to grow. All that needs to happen for polystyrene to stop being produced is for the market to accept this new technology. This could replace a terrible practice with a sustainable one. A solution is out there! Eben Bayer is a leader in this field and has a great TED talk on this subject.
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