Mushrooms Become A Substitute For Styrofoam In The Future

Do you know of Styrofoam are not bio-compatible, this material can survive for thousands of years.

We need new material. The new material is bio-compatible and not dependent on chemicals, environmentally friendly, and nontoxic.

What if the bio-composite materials from waste biomass such as corn husks can meet all the technical requirements of Styrofoam? What if the material "Organic" as mushrooms are not poisonous, friendly packaging materials and can grow your own? and when not in use can be used as compost in the garden. Sounds like fiction. But that is not fiction - it is real.

In 2007, two graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, came up with the idea to create a composite of root fungi that can be used instead of Styrofoam. They established Ecovative Design and in 2010 they succeeded in producing Ecocradle. 

Ecocradle is the world's first packaging derived from mushroom. In fact, they use the mycelium, which is a fungal cellular network. Fungus itself is the fruiting body of fungal mycelium, the part that we already know as a food.

Mycelium grown into a desired form according to the mold. Next, add agricultural byproducts such as rice husks or cotton waste. Through a patented process, the mycelium was grown for 5-10 days. Mycelium will metabolize farm waste and filling the space with fibrous cells, which convert the waste become loose solid. Mycelium assemble themselves into a strong lignin cellulose and bio-composites, eliminating the need for high heat, pressure, or energy. We do not have to worry about mushroom growing because no spores used in the growth process.

EcoCradle can be composted at home, or use it as mulch in the garden because it can decompose EcoCradle aerobic or anaerobic in a landfill, back into their natural nutrients.

So EcoCradle will help preserve the environment, to convert waste into new materials, useful and profitable  not like styrofoam that pollute the environment.