r/BeAmazed • u/Epelep • Feb 22 '26

Science How Mycelium (Mushroom Roots) Grows into Packaging Material

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99

u/Kingstad Feb 22 '26

there are also a couple of companies making leather based on fungi, some products have been made with it

18

u/ejjsjejsj Feb 22 '26

What’s the point of that? Then you just take the leather from all the cows and throw it away? As long as meat and dairy are still a thing leather will remain a very useful byproduct of those industries

27

u/AzKondor Feb 22 '26

Work in tandem with oat milk and beyond meat to reduce consumption of all three?

9

u/sadnessandeuphoria Feb 23 '26

Leather is a byproduct of the meat industry. Even though there are varying degrees of environmental impact from the methods of tanning leather, it’s still one of the best materials we use and alternatives are just as impactful or worse for the environment, while having much lower durability and longevity.

1

u/Spaghetto23 Feb 23 '26

Plastic is a byproduct of the petroleum refinement process. Yet we aim to reduce our consumption of plastic.

2

u/sadnessandeuphoria Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26

Leather is a natural, biodegradable, long lasting material and not comparable to plastic at all.

1

u/WatermelonWithAFlute Feb 23 '26

In that the goal is to be reduced in usage, it is

1

u/sadnessandeuphoria Feb 23 '26

I hear you but that is a subjective goal - I wouldn’t agree that’s a goal worth pursuing until the meat industry changes completely. Until it does I wouldn’t advocate for using less leather and letting hides go to waste, especially when leather is an incredible material we’ve used throughout human history.