In the US alone, styrofoam makes up about 25 percent of the landfills and unfortunately, the material itself does not biodegrade easily. While more and more companies are researching biodegradable products, none of the ideas are as interesting as Eben Bayer’s EcoCradle.
Eben Bayer is the CEO of Ecoactive Design, a company looking for novel ways to eliminate non-environmentally friendly materials that many people don’t think twice about. Bayer focuses on commonly used and overlooked items that people throw out without a second thought. Currently the company has only two products, Greensulate and EcoCradle.
The EcoCradle looks to replace the plastics in styrofoam with more natural and biodegradable substances like mushrooms and agricultural waste. The styrofoam replacement can be grown in five days and then tossed into the garbage or compost pile. Unlike many other plastic substitutes, EcoCradle can also be broken down by anaerobic processes, which means it does not require oxygen to biodegrade.
Bayer and his company also make sure that the creation process for the EcoCradle is environmentally friendly and uses very little heat and energy to make the product, in fact it uses ten times less energy than standard styrofoam. The raw materials raw materials are literally grown in the dark with no watering and the materials are gathered from local farms. Sending fragile packages and/or food have continued to be on the rise with thanks to online shopping. Companies like Ecoactive Design help bring to light the issues of standard packaging and offer truly environmentally friendly solutions.
[via Ecoactive Design]
