In 2014, Ecovative Designs was working to combine mycelium with local crop waste to make a compostable biomaterial for packaging, and continue to expand their efforts. One example: A collaboration with Netherlands-based designer Eric Klarenbeek who 3D-prints with living mycelium and potato starch to create safe and sustainable products. The results are lightweight, strong, fire-resistant, water-repellent, and biodegradable.

In this Motherboard video from 2015, we meet Klarenbeek, as well as other innovative designers, scientists, and researchers—Han Wösten, Maurizio Montalti, and Willem Velthoven—who are working to improve this renewable biopolymer material for both mass production and creative endeavors. It’s an ambitious effort to replace the single-use plastics that are plaguing our planet. A summary of the mission from Klarenbeek’s Krown Design:

Mycelium is infinitely available and acts as the living glue to bind this organic waste. Let’s join forces to strive for a less plastic and oil dependent economy!

The material is literally grown, not manufactured. We use a growing organism to transform agricultural waste products like husks from hemp, flax and corn stalk into a beautiful protective product that is safe and natural.

Read the full article on The Kid Should See This.

Video credit: MOTHERBOARD