A metal hoop, reused from their Christmas wreath as a base, Lorraine and Jodie Caley wrapped the structure with old denim jeans, sourced from Age UK, and inoculated them with variation of mushroom spores.
The display marks the brand’s new, mycelium grown packaging is a bio-contributor. An innovation from the Magical Mushroom Company, the packaging is ‘grown’ from mycelium, the root system of fungi and is home-compostable within 45 days. Once returned to the soil, the composted packaging locks in the carbon and the nitrates nourishes the soil.
Even though, 45.7% (Guardian) of all UK household waste is classed as recycled, that’s not where it all ends up. On average half of all paper and cardboard, and two-thirds of plastics – an estimated 611,000 tonnes per year, are sent to Europe or Asia for ‘recycling’. The sad truth is that much of this waste is often heavily contaminated, making it difficult to process and is often left or incinerated in open landfills.
“The sad truth, is that our recycling system is failing us, so where possible, we want to remove the need to rely on it and take matters into our own hands. Our new packaging harnesses the potential of agricultural waste and fungi – one of the world’s oldest recycling systems”, explains MONC.
According to MONC, since being installed earlier this week in their Chiltern Street store, the mushrooms have almost doubled in size, and new fungi are springing up all around. The display will remain as long as the growing conditions remain conducive for the wreath, but certainly worth a peek.
