In: sustainability.
Recycling ♻️
We need to trust nature much more than we do now.
All industrial solutions that try to tackle recycling are both dumb and inefficient.
Links
Scientists discover plastic-eating worms that digest styrofoam
By Ryan Whitwam, posted June 13, 2022
https://extremetech.com/extreme/336999-scientists-discover-plastic-eating-worms-that-digest-styrofoam
The worms essentially act as "mini recycling plants" according to study author Chris Rinke. They shred the plastic in their mouths and feed it to gut bacteria that break the polymers down into smaller chunks that the insect can absorb.
These three fungi could one day help recycle your phone battery
By Graham Templeton, posted August 22, 2016
https://extremetech.com/extreme/234025-these-three-fungi-could-one-day-recycle-your-phone-battery
Fungi have an interesting property: Many species are surprisingly good at dealing with exposure to heavy metals. This has been observed for some time, and it's one of the main reasons that fungi are used all over society to extract metals from things like industrial fly ash, or runoff from processing plants. If you pick your species right, fungi can be abundant and quick to replicate, cheap to buy and keep alive, and best of all they tend to be rugged, and so don't require much in the way of care.
Plastic-eating bacteria set to revolutionize waste disposal
By Aaron Krumins, posted March 15, 2016
https://extremetech.com/extreme/224678-plastic-eating-bacteria-set-to-revolutionize-waste-disposal
One of the reasons we find plastics so troublesome is that they are not rapidly biodegradable; they stay resident in the environment long after they have served their purpose. Enter Ideonella sakaiensis: Japanese scientists have shown this bacteria is capable of digesting a chemical called polyethylene terephthalate, the substrate of many plastics we find in household products like bottled drinks, cosmetics and household cleaners.
Growing mushrooms in diapers
Posted September 2, 2014
https://sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140902092945.htm
Mexico is the third largest consumer of disposable diapers globally, which led to a Mexican scientist to design a technology capable of degrading the product materials by the mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus.September 2, 2014
Would YOU eat mushrooms grown in a dirty diaper? Scientists develop bizarre farming system (but admit only cattle will want to eat the results)
Published 4 September 2014
https://dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2744287/Would-YOU-eat-mushrooms-grown-dirty-diaper-Scientists-develop-bizarre-farming-admit-cattle-probably-want-eat-them.html
Mushrooms make short work of dirty diapers
By Sarah Laskow, posted May 25, 2011
https://grist.org/article/2011-05-25-mushrooms-make-short-work-of-dirty-diapers
As a sustainability solution, cloth diapers were never fun. Even the most eco-minded have been known to quail in front of a pail of soiled nappies. But a team of researchers has come up with an excuse for switching back to disposable diapers. They found that within 2 months, oyster mushrooms will consume 90 percent of a disposable diaper. Within four months, the entire thing is gone.
Petroleum-eating mushrooms
Posted November 30, 2011
https://sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111130125412.htm
Take a Petri dish containing crude petroleum and it will release a strong odor distinctive of the toxins that make up the fossil fuel. Sprinkle mushroom spores over the Petri dish and let it sit for two weeks in an incubator, and surprise, the petroleum and its smell will disappear. "The mushrooms consumed the petroleum!" says Mohamed Hijri, a professor of biological sciences and researcher at the University of Montreal's Institut de recherche en biologie végétale (IRBV).
