Mushrooms are abundant, grow almost anywhere, and they’re both strong and biodegradable. These characteristics make it increasingly likely that mushrooms will soon be used to help aid many of the world’s problems. While we associate mushrooms only with eating, the edible part is just its body that grows above the ground. Below the surface however, mushrooms span out in a huge interconnected network of filaments called mycelium, which is renowned for being a tough and lightweight material. Mycelium is now being used by a growing number of engineers and even designers to make items from hats to shoes, and lighting fixtures to furniture! The reason for this is that it is so environmentally sustainable. Mushrooms can be grown very easily, even using food waste, and can be grown into any shape. They’re cheap to grow too, needing only water, some food from our own household waste, and air. Almost any type of waste has a species of fungi that can break it down and feed on it; there’s even one species that can soak up toxic metals, one that can eat plastic, and some that can grow on nuclear waste! While it might be quite a while until we all accept the idea of “growing” clothes from mycelium, waste-digesting mushrooms are already being used to help clean up the environment. At the site of the world's biggest oil spill in the rainforests of Ecuador, scientists are planning to grow giant mushrooms which will soak up toxic oil from deep down in the soil!
