Mind Map
Today we used mind maps to aid us in choosing our final projects. Using the information we learned throughout last week, we related them to each other. My first mind map of overall was "messy" and rather quick. I wanted to pour out all my thoughts so I wrote words and connected them. As I looked over my notes and created the mind map I found that I was very interested in doing a project related to hexagons, mycelium, and herbariums.
I focused my second mind map on the structure and ecosystem benefits between hexagons, fungi, and herbariums. All 3 of these topics related through the benefits of the ecosystem and environment. The hexagonal shapes found in pencils and bee hives proved that hexagons were an ergonomic shape that required the least amount of material while still maintaining a large space. Fungi also help with the ecosystem no doubt. The different relationships between fungi and plants allowed plants to maintain their surroundings. One example is mycorrhizal fungi which have a symbiotic relationship with over 98% of plants. Lastly, herbariums also help with the environment because they help indicate climate change.
After talking with my peers I formed a group with people who were interested in creating sustainable materials out of mycelium. We called it mycelial utensils and our main focus was creating mycelium bags, packaging, and utensils. Alicia and I focused on creating packaging out of mycelium. As I was researching I found surprising facts on styrofoam's impact on the environment as well as the great number of uses mycelium has.
Styrofoam or polystyrene foam has been here for many years starting in the 1940s. Although it has served as a good packaging, surely this wasn't the only material that was strong and protected valuables. Styrofoam is extremely harmful to the environment, it can take thousands of years or even more just for it to biodegrade. Over the past 2 decades, more than 300 million metric tons of styrofoam was produced. Along with that, more than half was disposed of within only one year. Thankfully mycelium is both a possible and great material to use as packaging. Mycelium is lightweight, easy to produce, and inexpensive. Not only is mycelium biodegradable, but because it is made of fungi it actually helps the environment. I'm excited for me to further my research on mycelium as a packaging alternative.
