gavin mentioned that they are taking local farm waste and then assimilating it with tissues from mushrooms. these experiments are being carried out for plastic foams which are used in defensive packaging. ecovative design is a groundbreaking new biomaterials organization which is based in green island. ecovative design eben bayer is mcintyre&39s business partner. eben says that it is not like plastics are equal to bad. however, the thing is they&39re basically incompatible with the biosphere of earth. more conventional styrofoam packaging is made up of polystyrene, which is an unsustainable petrochemical. furthermore, it can take up to a million of years to naturally biodegrade. one of ecovative&39s objectives is to create packaging materials that not only decompose more naturally and faster, but also give back to the ecological system of the earth. this has been done by utilizing mycelium, which is the microscopic root structure that lets mushrooms to cultivate on trees and spread all over the forest floor. bayer further says that the primary concept of using, or mycelium mushroom roots, as a resin was encouraged when bayer saw mycelium rising through woodchips as well as holding them together. the final idea came along when bayer teamed up with mcintyre, and along with each other they created ecovative&39s innovative production process. local agricultural waste, like husks and corn stalks, is cleaned and mixed with mycelium. then for about two days, the mixture is incubated right before being ground up as well as packed into molds. after permitting the mycelium to cultivate and fill out for around three more days, the molds are then baked into a lowtemperature oven in order to avert further growth. then they are removed from the molds as well as trimmed to work as packaging pieces for car parts, electronics, and much more. bayer further explains that they actually never grew mushrooms, but they just keep the mycelium in this vegetative producing stage where it is making more of the root structure. httpamerica.aljazeera.comwatchshowstechknowblog2013915howtoreplacefoamandplasticpackagingwithmushroomexperiments.html
