In 2010, Eben Bayer, co-founder of Evocative, announced that mushrooms were about to become the new packing peanuts – but what has happened to this miracle of modern industry since then?

What is Myco Foam?

Myco Foam, an organic adhesive made of mycelium, a living, growing organism, is hitting the market in a big way, turning agriwaste into the packing peanuts of the 21st century. When waste is introduced to mycelium, the root structure of the mushroom breaks down the waste and seals it together into a Styrofoam-like material that can completely replace packing peanuts.

“In nature,” Bayer says, “Mushrooms are the recycling system.” Evocative is just taking a page out of nature’s book.

Because this new Styrofoam is grown rather than synthetically produced, Bayer explained in his 2010 TED Talk, it does not have the same impact on the planet as packing peanuts, doing away with both the enormous energy consumption of producing polystyrene and the long-lasting effects of these products, which take thousands of years to break down.

Styrofoam, one of the worst offenders, takes up about 25 percent of our landfills, Bayer says, “In a single cubic foot of this material — about what would come around your computer or large television — you have the same energy content of about a liter and a half of petrol.”

The Evocative Philosophy

The Evocative approach is an intriguing one, born of Cradle to Cradle design philosophy and a true desire to improve the way we treat the earth.

“Our ultimate goal is not just to be sustainable, but to actually be environmentally beneficial,” Bayer told GreenBiz. “By making this material you’re sequestering carbon; you’re restoring the soil and making the world a better place. We’re trying to go beyond zero impact and have a positive impact.”

To do this, Evocative have opened the floor to designers to find new and innovative ways to use the product. With kits, anyone can mold the material to their own designs. In 2014, designer David Benjamin took advantage of this and used a kit sold by the company to create bricks of his own design. Evocative helped him replicate the bricks to build the 40-foot tall Hy-Fi tower entirely from mushrooms.

Others can continue to take advantage of this via Myco Make, kits that allow you to create anything you like with the base product used by Evocative.

Where Has Myco Foam Replaced Packing Peanuts?

Two years after its founding in 2007, Evocative licensed its packaging technology to Sealed Air, a $7.6 billion dollar packaging and materials company perhaps best known for Bubble Wrap. In 2011, Evocative struck big when Dell Computers decided to begin using the mushroom packing materials in place of polystyrene, becoming the first in technology to do so.

“We’ve tested the mushroom cushioning extensively in the lab to ensure it meets our same high standards to safely protect our products during shipment – and it passed like a champ,” Oliver Campbell, Dell’s senior packaging manager, wrote in a blog post.

Puma and Crate & Barrel also use the mushroom packaging, and soon, so will Ikea.

“We are looking for innovative alternatives to materials, such as replacing our polystyrene packaging with mycelium – fungi packaging,” Johanna Yarrow, head of sustainability for Ikea in the UK, told the Telegraph earlier this year.

Ikea was particularly interested in the material’s ability to be grown into any form. “You can create bespoke packaging,” she said.

The product is not only sustainable, it’s also cost competitive with polystyrene foams, which should make the switch a no-brainer for other companies going forward. “We’re not going to replace all polystyrene overnight, but that’s certainly the direction in which we’re headed,” Bayer said.

While the company waits for the rest of the world to switch gears and choose mushrooms over packing peanuts, Evocative has other plans on the horizon. It recently developed a replacement product for wood, called Myco Board.

“Current engineered woods are held together with urea-formaldehyde, a known carcinogen,” Bayer explains. “Our technology platform binds particles together with naturally occurring mycelium.”

Other products currently in development include Myco Grow, a replacement for floral foams, and Myco Flex, which could be the source of your next yoga mat. It appears that nothing is too crazy for the humble mushroom when the right minds are put to the task.

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Image care of Evocative

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A New York City judge has overturned a citywide Styrofoam ban.

After the Styrofoam ban went into effect on July 1, a number of local businesses sued the city, stating that the ban was political and would hurt their businesses. City restaurants and corner delis had until January 2016 to make the shift away from polystyrene (Styrofoam is a trade name).

But according to Justice Margaret Chan, who agreed with the business owners and overturned the Styrofoam ban, New Yorkers could be recycling the hazardous material, and saving the city nearly half a million dollars a year (even though polystyrene products only make up about 0.8 percent of city waste, or about 28,500 tons of the city’s trash going to landfills).

City officials aren’t happy with the ruling and plan to fight it. City Hall deputy press secretary Ishanee Parikh told the New York Post, “These [Styrofoam] products cause real environmental harm and we need to be able to prevent nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from entering our landfills, streets, and waterways. We are reviewing our options to keep the ban in effect.”

Polystyrene poses human health issues by leaching styrene monomers into the food or beverages it comes in contact with—especially if those foods or liquids are hot. Exposure to styrene monomers, particularly on the production side, has been linked to skin and eye irritation, depression, kidney problems, breathing and gastrointestinal issues, headache, and fatigue. According to CleanWater.org, Styrene residues are found in 100 percent of all samples of human fat tissue.

For the planet, the issues are even more concerning. Americans throw away about 25 billion Styrofoam cups every year, according to EPA data. Polystyrene is resistant to photolysis, which means that it is very, very difficult to break down. Check back in on your collection of Styrofoam coffee cups in a few hundred years (after that presumably long time-travel trip), and you’ll be able to refresh yourself with a cup of coffee in the exact same foam cup from today/500 years ago.

That is, of course, if there’s any water left on earth to make coffee with—the lightness of polystyrene products are creating massive floating hazards, taking heavy tolls on waterways and on marine life. But, at least, in the meantime, you can still find Styrofoam aplenty floating around in Manhattan.

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Styrofoam cup image via Shutterstock

The post New York City’s Styrofoam Ban Dies (Unlike Actual Styrofoam) appeared first on EcoSalon.

If you live with a greenie, dramatic scenes can play out over the blue recycling bin. Styrofoam can be recycled, right? Hangers for sure. Why are you putting that pizza box in the trash? For the love of Al Gore, won’t anyone think of the cardboard? (And cue silent scream.)

As it turns out, throwing certain items into the recycling that you are utterly convinced can be recycled is actually worse for the environment. Oftentimes, bad items can taint an entire bin, resulting in the whole load going into a landfill. This largely depends on how well a city’s recycling facilities can sort. But it’s enough to throw a person into high anxiety with every trip to the waste bin.

Not to worry. Here’s a quick list of 10 surprising things on the “Do we or don’t we?” list. And always, if you’re in doubt about an item, check Earth911.com for a facility near you that may take your questionable trash bit.

Pizza Boxes I know, I KNOW. It seems like these cardboard boxes are made for the recycling bins. But pizza boxes are often tainted with food and grease. Many items are recycled using a heat and water process, which is not problem for plastic and glass. But throw some cardboard soaked in oil into the process, and you’ve got a messy muck. Terry Gellenbeck is a solid waste administrative analyst for the City of Phoenix. As he told Earth911, “The oil causes great problems for the quality of the paper, especially the binding of the fibers. It puts in contaminants, so when they do squeeze the water out, it has spots and holes.”

Wet Paper Paper fibers that have been soaked are shorter. This makes them less valuable to paper recyclers, who won’t collect and mill them.

Plastic Bottle Caps Plastic bottle caps are considered less valuable on the market, so most recyclers won’t take them. Make sure you separate them from your plastic bottles. Also, you can check Earth911 to find a facility near you that does accept plastic bottle caps.

Juice Boxes Check to see if your juice box is specially-processed for recycling. If it isn’t, you have to throw it in the trash. The plastic coating on much of the cardboard renders them unsuitable for recycling.

Plastic Bags When recycling bins are sorted manually, workers cannot open plastic bags to see what is inside. It isn’t cost-effective and could be dangerous. So they get trashed. (Note: don’t put your plastic bottles and more in plastic bags.) You can often take your plastic bags back to the store for recycling – and consult Earth 911 again for places that will take them.

Styrofoam Another one that kills me, because how many times do we get handed Styrofoam containers we don’t want? But Styrofoam is a petroleum product and, more importantly, highly flammable. It’s considered a danger to most recycling centers. Again, Earth 911 may provide locations that will take it from you.

Wire Hangers Most recycling centers are not set up to handle wire. However, experts agree that your local dry cleaner may take them. Often, they reuse them or send them to a scrap metal dealer. Sure, they get the cash, but you get the knowledge you’re not sending wire hangers into the great abyss. Joan Crawford would be proud.

Paper Napkins or Towels Again, food contamination often takes these paper products out of the running. Try to use wash clothes or handkerchiefs instead.

Ceramics You would think that your old coffee mug would find a home in your recycling bin. Alas, they are not accepted at most recycling centers. Consider giving them a second life with a houseplant or in your garden.

Heavily-Dyed Paper When paper is recycled, it is heat-treated. So if something is heavily dyed, it has the same outcome as a blue sock or red t-shirt thrown in with your whites in the washing machine. Consequently, a lot of paper mills won’t take the results. (Pastels are okay.) Life can still be colorful, just a bit toned down!

ALSO CHECK OUT:

The 5 Step Program For Better Recycling

16 Ways to Trim Your Trash

The Top 20 Things That We Throw Away That We Shouldn’t

Images: mukluk, crabchick, kaz k, cogdogblog,stevendepolo,Urban Woodswalker,
eatatree, Michael_Lehet, noego, raphernalia_vintage, minor9th

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