Mushroom buoys could be contender in fight to reduce ocean plastics

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 20, 2022

In the fight to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean, an unlikely new combatant has been enlisted: fungi. A pair of ocean farmers plan to deploy buoys made with mycelium, the thread-like fungal root networks that sprout mushrooms, on a small scale this summer to test it as a potential alternative to the hundreds of plastic foam buoys that dot the Maine coast. The so-called “myco buoys” are made by putting mycelium in a mold and feeding it with hempstock or other types of plant waste. The mycelium then grows into a material that’s biodegradable, strong and buoyant. “We know that the myco buoys show promise,” said Sue Van Hook, a mycologist who led a pair of workshops on how to make the buoys at Smithereen Farm in Pembroke this month. “This is a solution for replacing styrofoam flotation.”