Plastic is a scourge on the environment. Whether we're talking packaging or car parts, most plastic products are single-use, which means they head right to the landfill or worse when they've outlived they're usefulness. I've been running across some really cool mushroom-based alternatives to petroleum products, so I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites with you guys!

Mushroom Packaging

Computer giant Dell announced recently that it's going to be replacing those styrofoam packing blocks in its computer packaging with compostable, mushroom-based packing material. The EcoCradle mushroom packaging from Ecovocative is totally compostable!

Compostable Car Components

Ford is teaming up with Ecovocative, too, to create mushroom-based car parts. After a bit of research, the folks at Ford discovered that Ecovocative's mushroom foam is just as resilient as the petroleum-based product they're using now. Ford is working with Ecovocative to replace 30 pounds of the pounds of materials in their cars with mushroom-based foam.

Have you guys run across any cool innovations in compostables? I'd love to hear what you've seen in the comments!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Tweek