I Wear Blue For My Grandpa Diabetes Awareness Shirt

“Mushrooms are nature’s recycling system,” explains Gavin McIntyre, co-founder of Ecovative Design. “They’re decomposers. Mycelium grows really quickly and for the I Wear Blue For My Grandpa Diabetes Awareness Shirt process, [we’re able to grow it] in days.” Many compostable products, such as the compostable cups that you see at coffee shops, are made from Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), a corn sugar fermented by bacteria, and are only industrially compostable. Mycelium products biodegrade within a month in a home compost, meaning they don’t need to be sent out to a facility. I asked Gavin about composting in New York City, where the mayor has recently suspended the composting program, and he pointed out that you could technically cut up the packaging and put it out next to a tree or—though he doesn’t recommend this—a local body of water, as the product is safely marine-compostable and used to protect scientific buoys in oceans around the world by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Mycelium acts like a glue and is grown into molds (no pun intended) fitting any shape, from packaging insert to sculpture to beauty applicator. Ecovative grows mycelium beauty and skincare products including eye masks, sheet masks, and makeup wedges. They are also partnering with beauty, fashion, art, and technology brands to customize packaging.