5 ms·

> and you need to source quite a few ingredients for the growth medium That’s entirely dependent on the species. Oysters can be grown entirely on non-suppleme

by wy35 5y ago

> and you need to source quite a few ingredients for the growth medium That’s entirely dependent on the species. Oysters can be grown entirely on non-supplemented sawdust. Supplements can be just wheat bran or soy hulls, and maybe gypsum or CaCO3. That’s a short ingredient list and easily sourced from your local Tractor Supply.

telotortium 5y ago
You're leaving out > Growing the mycelium really fast and efficiently requires quite a bit of energy input (heating, humidity controls, airflow…) Given the impact of climate change, it's not really worth saving a little bit of oil to make the plastic (which, since it's not biodegradable, will probably not contribute to increasing greenhouse gasses) if you have to burn more oil, which will produce CO2, to make the mushroom-based packaging.
- LordDragonfang 5y ago
  The fact that plastic isn't biodegradable is one of the main reasons there's a push for alternate packaging materials. Plastic overuse is a major ecological concern, to the point that some people are positioning it as an issue on par with global warming, and one we have time to work on fixing. In other words, avoiding plastic is the whole point here.
  - solomonb 5y ago
    Yet using mycelieum for packing materials requires lots of disposable plastic to convert something already suitable for a packing material (sawdust) into a different material suitable for packing material with a little green washing.
    - Retric 5y ago
      Sawdust is fairly heavy (13 lb/ft³) and messy to be used as a general packing material. Foam peanut by comparison are about 0.2 lb/ft³.
      - solomonb 5y ago
        I can't imagine that myceliated sawdust will be any lighter then sawdust.
        Retric 5y ago
        I didn’t see myceliated sawdust density, but in general it looks like Fungi are stripping carbon from the growth medium so generally end up lighter when dried. Myceliated sawdust is also a solid material which can have void spaces around the object. For example, formed into spheres it should provide ~25% void space.
  - refurb 5y ago
    It seems odd to be so opposed to plastic that one might not use in favor of another product that requires more energy input and is this worse for global warming.
- friedturkey 5y ago
  With a move away from fossil fuels, CO2 will become less of a concern.
  - dtgriscom 5y ago
    We're going to be worried about CO2 for a long, long time.
    - jacobolus 5y ago
      The point is that if energy is produced using non-fossil-fuel sources, then increasing energy intensity of industrial processes will not necessarily output more CO2. That is, using coal power to make make energy-intensive mushroom-based packaging is probably ecologically net-negative, but if you can use solar or geothermal power it might not be.
- wy35 5y ago
  I left it out because I agree with that part, haha.
solomonb 5y ago
You are leaving out: - Disposable autoclavable bags - Spawn (either grain or some form of sugar water) - Disposable lab equipment (scalpels, petri dishes, parafilm, syringes, etc). Some of this doesn't need to be disposable but then you spend more energy cleaning and sterilizing it. - All the energy that goes into sterilization, humidification, etc.
- wy35 5y ago
  - Mushrooms can be grown in reusable plastic bottles. Enoki is already grown in them but they are gaining in popularity for oysters. - Yes, no way around spawn or lab equipment. - Humidification is relatively low energy. Even a regular consumer-grade humidifier will be enough for an amateur grow operation. And even for larger humidifiers, the water and energy requirement is minimal. - You can pasteurize substrate with zero-energy methods like cold pasteurization (via calcium hydroxide) or composting (industry standard right now, basically what all commercial button mushroom farms do). - Sterilization of spawn is indeed high energy, but using electric desktop autoclaves (AA has a few models) significantly reduces energy use. They are used quite rarely commercially, though.

by wy35 5y ago

telotortium 5y ago

You're leaving out > Growing the mycelium really fast and efficiently requires quite a bit of energy input (heating, humidity controls, airflow…) Given the impact of climate change, it's not really worth saving a little bit of oil to make the plastic (which, since it's not biodegradable, will probably not contribute to increasing greenhouse gasses) if you have to burn more oil, which will produce CO2, to make the mushroom-based packaging.

LordDragonfang 5y ago
The fact that plastic isn't biodegradable is one of the main reasons there's a push for alternate packaging materials. Plastic overuse is a major ecological concern, to the point that some people are positioning it as an issue on par with global warming, and one we have time to work on fixing. In other words, avoiding plastic is the whole point here.
- solomonb 5y ago
  Yet using mycelieum for packing materials requires lots of disposable plastic to convert something already suitable for a packing material (sawdust) into a different material suitable for packing material with a little green washing.
  - Retric 5y ago
    Sawdust is fairly heavy (13 lb/ft³) and messy to be used as a general packing material. Foam peanut by comparison are about 0.2 lb/ft³.
    - solomonb 5y ago
      I can't imagine that myceliated sawdust will be any lighter then sawdust.
      - Retric 5y ago
        I didn’t see myceliated sawdust density, but in general it looks like Fungi are stripping carbon from the growth medium so generally end up lighter when dried. Myceliated sawdust is also a solid material which can have void spaces around the object. For example, formed into spheres it should provide ~25% void space.
- refurb 5y ago
  It seems odd to be so opposed to plastic that one might not use in favor of another product that requires more energy input and is this worse for global warming.
friedturkey 5y ago
With a move away from fossil fuels, CO2 will become less of a concern.
- dtgriscom 5y ago
  We're going to be worried about CO2 for a long, long time.
  - jacobolus 5y ago
    The point is that if energy is produced using non-fossil-fuel sources, then increasing energy intensity of industrial processes will not necessarily output more CO2. That is, using coal power to make make energy-intensive mushroom-based packaging is probably ecologically net-negative, but if you can use solar or geothermal power it might not be.
wy35 5y ago
I left it out because I agree with that part, haha.

solomonb 5y ago

You are leaving out: - Disposable autoclavable bags - Spawn (either grain or some form of sugar water) - Disposable lab equipment (scalpels, petri dishes, parafilm, syringes, etc). Some of this doesn't need to be disposable but then you spend more energy cleaning and sterilizing it. - All the energy that goes into sterilization, humidification, etc.

wy35 5y ago
- Mushrooms can be grown in reusable plastic bottles. Enoki is already grown in them but they are gaining in popularity for oysters. - Yes, no way around spawn or lab equipment. - Humidification is relatively low energy. Even a regular consumer-grade humidifier will be enough for an amateur grow operation. And even for larger humidifiers, the water and energy requirement is minimal. - You can pasteurize substrate with zero-energy methods like cold pasteurization (via calcium hydroxide) or composting (industry standard right now, basically what all commercial button mushroom farms do). - Sterilization of spawn is indeed high energy, but using electric desktop autoclaves (AA has a few models) significantly reduces energy use. They are used quite rarely commercially, though.