Styrofoam, Meet EcoCradle

If you’re like me and you buy a lot of electronics and gadgets online, you tend to build a sizeable stock of packing peanuts and those large, molded foam packaging bits. Styrofoam isn’t exactly green. It has a number of damaging aspects, including negative health effects and it does not biodegrade. Any degradation that actually does happen creates dangerous byproducts that contaminate the environment. It can be recycled, but the majority of polystyrene is not. I recently bought a Mac Pro, and the foam pieces are huuuuuge! As I unpacked my new behemoth I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about the amount of styrofoam I just consumed. Not that I don’t appreciate secure packaging, but there’s got to be a better option somewhere. After quickly contemplating what to do with the waste, I decided it best (easier and more convenient) to just stow the entire packing, cardboard and foam, in my garage – you know, just “in case” I need it later.

Right.

Ecovative Design may have discovered the solution to the Styrofoam packaging dilemma though! ED has developed EcoCradle, the Styrofoam replacement made from agricultural waste. It’s completely biodegradable. EcoCradle boasts “the same cushioning, strength, and protection as petrochemical based materials such as Styrofoam.” (ecovativedesign.com) You can toss this one into your garden or compost pile when you’re done with it though. Apparently they use agricultural waste like cottonseed and buckwheat hulls, and mushroom fungi to make it all stick together. The entire process, from the raw materials to the 100% biodegradable end, is completely eco-friendly. I’m not too excited about the fungi part, and the packaging looks a little gnarly (I can’t help but think of the fungus), but if I can just throw it in my garden when I’m done with it then I’m on board! It’ll be compost for my tomatoes long before the foam from my Mac Pro ever gets recycled or reused.

Kaitlyn Hill

http://ecovativedesign.com/ecocradle/