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You never know what might be revealed behind a locked door. When Eben Bayer was in college, he and his buddy, Gavin McIntyre opened one and found 2,000 square feet of abandoned office space. The discovery is not as earth shattering as Bluebeard’s dead wives, but it was the place where Eben and Gavin established their lab to experiment with mycelium.
Mycelium is essentially mushroom roots. The friends mixed it with agricultural waste and created mushroom material. That material became the basis of their company, Ecovative. Their company turns the eco-friendly product into protective packaging, for shipping televisions and furniture. The hope is that, in time, their form of “bubble sheets” will replace the use of plastics and styrofoam. Unlike Bluebeard’s terrorized wives, at Ecovative, the mushroom's fate is immortal and gives back to the earth that gave it life.
Tune in to hear more from this farm boy turn mechanical engineer challenging the status quo that is plastics.
