Why I Think Mushrooms can save the world

I think that we as a culture have become way to reliant on Technology without making sure that the proper checks and balances are in place. whether you believe or rebut the idea I think to impact in our environment.We got to bring awareness to the situation and offer solutions. Many mycologist drop these topics because its hard to get funding so here is my Take!

Plastic is piling up in landfills and polluting are oceans.But what if i say there is a solution.

Types of Plastic Eating Mushrooms

Pestalotiopsis Microspora: Is a rare species of mushroom that was found in the Amazon Rain Forrest. It is capable of subsisting of plastic alone. Pestalotiopsis Microspora consumes polyurethane which is a key ingredient in the process of creating plastic. But the most important part There 100% edible they taste “sweet with the smell of anise or licorice according to Unger university.
But unlike many other mushrooms (Oyster mushrooms for a example) Pestalotiopsis microspora can live without oxygen. Which is a huge benefit especially for use of cleaning up land fills.

The microbiology Team at Utrecht University they created a project called the Fungi Mutarium. They used the mycelium—which is the threadlike, vegetative part of a mushroom—of two very common types of edible mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus (Oyster mushrooms) and Schizophyllum commune (Split gill mushrooms). Over the course of a few months, the fungi fully degraded small pieces of plastic while growing around pods of edible agar. The result? In place of plastic, a small mycelium snack.
In 2017, scientist Sehroon Khan and his research team at the World Agroforestry Centre in Kunming, China discovered another biodegrading fungus in a landfill in Islamabad, Pakistan: Aspergillus tubingensis, which turns out to be capable of colonizing polyester polyurethane (PU) and breaking it down it into smaller pieces within the span of two months. (PU often shows up in the form of packing foam—the kind of thing you might find cushioning a microwave or a new TV.)

Utrecht University has continued its research, and scientists around the world have continued to discover different types of fungus that can degrade different, specific types of plastic. Khan and his team alone have discovered around 50 more species since 2017. They are currently working on finding the optimal conditions of temperature and environment for each strain of fungus to do its work.

The Extra Scoop:

They can help clean oil spills
As the oil continues to gush in the Gulf of Mexico, attention is being directed on the potential for mycelium fungus to clean up oil spills and to rehabilitate waterways. Mushrooms also have value in cleaning polluted soil, making non-toxic insecticides, treating smallpox and even as an inexpensive fuel source.

Certain species, including the oyster mushroom, produce enzymes that break down the tough, aromatic hydrocarbons found in petroleum, in addition to soaking up heavy metals like mercury.