In Connecticut, University of Connecticut student Amelia Martin has developed a surfboard concept using mycelium, the plant structure of mushrooms. The project was undertaken in the laundry room of her Vernon, Connecticut home.
Martin was inspired both by her graduate level work studying how fungi acts as a plant pest and her connection to the ocean as a surer. “Solid waste pollution has always been a massive problem,” Martin told the Register Citizen. “The fact that surfboards are now contributing to it because hundreds of thousands of them are thrown away every year to just sit in a landfill and spread chemicals everywhere and hurt wildlife … it’s like we’re just part of the problem … We need to fix this now.”
Surfboards are usually made of a plastic foam, fiberglass and resin. After some trial and error with other materials, Martin settled on the best substrates, fungal species and growing conditions.
“Hopefully we’ll get our first prototype and then it’ll be customer tests,” said Martin. “By this time next year we could start production and start selling them.”