Mushrooms can be eaten in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons, but that is not all they are good for. Mushrooms can be used as fertilizer, building material and even to help break down plastic. They are often a more sustainable option for problems because it does not take much effort to grow fungi.
From start to finish, mushrooms also do not produce much waste. Fungi can and do grow successfully in compost. Farmers can grow millions of mushrooms on a few acres of land, meaning they produce a high yield with minimal land and by using only composted waste. A pound of mushrooms only requires 1.8 gallons of water to grow and uses one kilowatt hour of energy, a fraction of what other produce requires. Once harvested, the soil they grow in can be recycled into other products, including potting soil completing a low-waste and long-term sustainable cycle.
Related: Check out the hot trends in sustainability for 2023
No good thing is perfect, but here are five cool uses for mushrooms
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1. Mushroom fertilizer and decomposer
As fungi, mushrooms feed on organic matter. In other words, it is in their nature to decompose organic materials, making them an interesting solution to the world’s plastic problem. In 2011, Yale students discovered that some mushrooms can grow on some plastics without oxygen or light and break the plastic down in a few months. Because of their decomposing properties, mushrooms are also natural fertilizers, and some scientists have used this to their advantage. Instead of manufacturing synthetic fertilizers that help plants grow but kill helpful fungi and bacteria, they are using mushrooms as the fertilizer to promote continued growth as food production demands increase.
2. Mushroom coffee and protein
Coffee and protein powder are edible, but they are not typical foods that you would think (or hope, if you are not fungi’s biggest fan) include mushrooms. However, mushroom coffee and protein are taking over the health food scene. Mushroom coffee faces off against climate change, where coffee is one of the more threatened crops, but it also provides a low-caffeine alternative to a morning drink. These low or non-caffeinated coffee alternatives combat caffeine addictions while touting reduced stress and inflammation. These same benefits exist in superfood protein powders and impossible meat-style mushroom alternatives, including mycelium-based bacon.
3. Mushroom packing and building materials
With a growing population and online shopping, both buildings and packing materials will always be needed, but they do not have to be bad for the planet. In the Netherlands, hemp and mycelium roots have replaced CO2-sucking concrete in a building, called the Growing Pavilion, which cleans the air as the mushrooms grow. It also happens to be fire retardant and insulating.
The Growing Pavilion uses this biotechnology to show the world that these steps towards environmentally-friendly practices are possible. Shipping products around the world in our global economy also requires the kind of rigid materials a building does, and that is why some companies are using mushroom-based packaging. As a Styrofoam alternative, this new packing material will not take hundreds of years to decompose, but it protects goods in their rough and tumble shipping journey.
4. Mushroom skincare
Many of the reasons you eat mushrooms are the same ones explaining why more and more skincare products include fungi as an ingredient: anti-inflammatory, reduced stress and hormone balancing. Research and studies have been designed over the years to discover which of the thousands of mushrooms in the world are good for our skin and how to formulate skincare with mushrooms for the best-desired results. Depending on the type of mushroom used, products include face masks, cleansing bars, sunscreen and moisturizers.
5. Mushroom leather
Turns out mycelium has a lot of uses, and aesthetic fashion is one of them. The environmental impact of cows is large and the ethics of animal leather has been under scrutiny for decades, but it looks like the fashion world can have its cake and eat it too. Mushroom leather joined a booming industry of synthetic leather goods expected to continue growing without any animal products or plastic.
MycoWorks patented much of the technology that introduced mushroom leather to the world, but other companies are competing in the industry too. Designers such as Stella McCartney and brands like Adidas are using this technology to reduce the environmental impact of fashion.
Whether you are just happy that farmer’s market season is back so you can make mushroom risotto or you want to try something new, mushrooms can be the quiet solution to a few of our problems on this changing planet.
Images via Pexels
