jake winiski does a quality control in a clean room examining a tray of mycelium and other raw materials, which will age to become an ecological packaging material at ecovative design, located in green island. apart from being used in soups and salads, mushrooms are proving extremely beneficial and eco friendly packaging material, as well. mushrooms are being used as a key ingredient in the pale. pale are the soft blocks manufactured by the thousands in an upstate new york plant. pale are being used as a cushion to safeguard products ranging from furniture for crate and barrel to dell inc. servers. more specifically, the packaging blocks are made with mycelium. mycelium is the hidden "roots" of the mushroom which usually thread underneath wood or dirt. two former design and mechanical engineering students, gavin mcintyre and eben bayer, identified how to cultivate those cottony filaments in a manner that joins seed husks or such agricultural byproducts in preset packaging shapes. they founded their own company five years ago named as ecovative design. it has a toehold in the immensely profitable market for ecofriendly substitutes to plastic foams &mdash and their business is expanding like shiitakes on a damp log. mcintyre and bayer are already escalating their line for everything from car bumpers to footwear. bayer says that they want to be the dupont or dow of this century. if the aspiration sounds extravagant, consider that six years ago mcintyre and bayer were students of rensselaer polytechnic institute growing fungus beneath their beds for a class project. at present, these young entrepreneurs are expanding their production space more than double. they recently declared a deal with sealed air corp., which is the packaging giant famous for bubble wrap. staff at ecovative vaccinates mycelium into pasteurized bits of plant stalks or seed husks, then place the mixture into clear plastic molds that are shaped like the intended packaging pieces, for instance, a cradleshaped mold for a wine bottle. then about five days, the mix is covered. during this period, millions of mycelium strands grow up around and through the feedstock, acting as a type of glue. to kill the fungus, the piece is then heat dried so that mushrooms can&39t sprout from it. as the mycelium is cloned, the product does not contain spores that can trigger allergies. bayer says that it&39s lowtech biotech. bayer observed mycelium&39s elastic properties as a child growing up on a vermont farm. as students, mcintyre and bayer started with mushroombased filling. however, their pair then switched to packaging material as it seemed a better business deal. they experimented a lot with common varieties such as the oyster mushrooms before finally hitting on just the right mix. several years ago, the company moved to a 10,000squarefoot plant in green island, which still has the feel of an establishment the feedstock is pasteurized with an outdated industrial asparagus blancher, and then the mycelium is applied with a machine which was once used to put chocolate chips on cookies. mcintyre&39s pet audrey, chinchilla rolls around the plant in a plastic pet ball. bayer mentioned ecovative, with a staff of 42 people, has gained more than 10 million in equity investment and grants, as well as some market dominating clients. oliver campbell, dell director of procurement, mentioned his company has a testing program using the ecovative product as an alternative for polyethylene foam for transporting a highend server. campbell said it is a radical thought to safeguard 25,000 worth of servers with mushrooms. as the technology fits the green initiative of dell, they have decided to use it on a pilot basis. it perhaps helped that oliver was a mushroom guy who used to cultivate shiitake mushrooms for sale with his wife. in the same way, crate and barrel contracted with ecovative as a part of an initiative to minimize packaging and slash reliance on expanded polystyrene, which is a commonly used material for packaging. the home and furnishings company also has a pilot program of using a mushroom product for the corner blocks for a big room divider with shelves. aaron rose, executive of crate and barrel, said that ecovative&39s products cost a little more than expanded polystyrene. however, according to dell&rsquos oliver campbell, the difference is negligible and said the price would reduce as production grew. source of information httpwww.deseretnews.comarticle765557714nycompanygrowingmushroomsaspackingma…
