http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/mushrooms-ricehusks-buckwheat-replacements-plastic.html
Eben Bayer believes that Styrofoam, which is toxic and can't be recycled, could be replaced with more conventional items that are naturally occurring and completely safe. He wanted to find something that was more than just 10% recyclable, and he found mushrooms to be the magical answer...The mushroom's roots are able to take things we would consider waste, like woody biomass or seed husks, and form them into a polymer that is used exactly like plastic. It results in a recyclable and compost-able material. In other parts of the world, rice husks can be used the same as these mushrooms roots, and in the US buckwheat husks or oat hulls could be used...I think this is a fantastic idea that should be taken into consideration when companies try to replace styrofoam...
This is a cool idea; I worked on an extremely similar article last quarter. I thought this is cool I’m just curious, when will this be happening? And do you think it will catch on?
ReplyDeleteI don't see why this hasn't caught on? It seems fairly simple to do and would be helping the environment so much by not producing styrofoam anymore and helping cut down on so much plastic. The only thing I guess that might be stopping them is the price? But I don't think it could be THAT expensive to do.
ReplyDeleteThis is really a great idea. I agree with Samantha; why hasn't this caught on? You would think that people would really buy into new materials that they knew were helping the environment. I've never heard of this personally, so it probably just hasn't really hit mainstream yet.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really great idea and I am really looking forward to the day where this is commonly used. This would be a really great advancement and I hope this catches on. If this were to be used heavily, then there would have to be some bulk availability of the mushrooms, rice husks, and buckwheat.
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