Employing mushrooms to replace plastics?

It may sound crazy: using mushrooms to create a substance that can replace Styrofoam and other plastics in all sorts of situations: packaging, building, home insulation and more. But Eben Bayer and the fine folks at Ecovative Design are doing just that.

By replacing Styrofoam, which greatly contributes to the plastics that take up 25% of our landfill space in the U.S., Ecovative Design can reduce our waste production and find a new use for substances that were previously considered trash, such as cotton seed or buckwheat hulls. Check out Bayer’s TED 2010 Talk to hear more about how he’s creating biodegradable, home compostable packaging.