Ziptrek Ecotours

Mushrooms, Styrofoam and Progressive Thinking

JULY 2011

It has become progressively easier and easier to access environmentally friendly products for our homes. To some this means buying organic and locally; for others it is using biodegradable dishsoap; or for some it may be simply starting their family on the road to recycling or composting. However, a common issue that the green enthusiast struggles with is the inability to maintain this level of responsibility with products outside of the home.

Many of us in the Sea to Sky community know all too well that little twinge of guilt we feel when we order a to-go coffee only to realize that our travel mug is still at home, or when we see that tiny portion of delicious leftovers that is housed in a gigantic Styrofoam container haunting us from the refrigerator shelf.

The fact that we care, or even think about these small acts is undoubtedly positive. Yet there are those inevitable parts of our everyday existence that make us shake our heads - we often see alternatives as impossible in our future.

The classic example of this sense of hopelessness is polystyrene, perhaps better known as the brand ‘Styrofoam’. Apart from the well known uses of Styrofoam such as packaging peanuts and disposable containers, polystyrene is also used for building insulation, DVD/CD cases, smoke detectors, food packaging, and children’s toys, among others. It is a multipurpose, high-performance product which, alas, is using up resources such as oil and gas and also piling up in our landfills and oceans. These products take hundreds of years to degrade and, although it has great potential for recycling, the cost-benefit relationship deems recycling economically unfeasible in many scenarios. All-in-all, we hate it, but need it. Or do we?

Young, enthusiastic entrepreneurs are beginning change this status quo. They are stepping over Band-Aid solutions and targeting full-scale substitution of these products that we cannot, allegedly, live without.

An excellent example of this is the company entitled Ecovative Design. Their solution? Mushrooms. The founders are Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, two young men who created Ecovative Design fresh out of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. They discovered that mycelium, the vegetative or root-like part of a fungus, can grow using waste agricultural byproducts into any desired shape, creating a matrix which is as versatile, durable and useful as polystyrene. Of course, the result is a substance which is 100% biodegradable, renewable, and even has minimal energy required for production. Although a far-out idea (perhaps as a result of the mushrooms), the success of these products has been staggering. Ecovative products have now replaced polystyrene packaging in a wide range of companies, for use in insulation, building products, automotive and consumer goods – completely eliminating the need for polystyrene products.

This company, started by two young men who were literally fascinated with fungus growing on woodchips, is just one example of what can happen when ingenuity and environmental dedication combine. So before we throw our hands in the air and cry helplessness, let’s keep our nose to the grindstone and seek to support those who are striving to make a difference.

by: Alison McKenzie