Lifebox – Cardboard Ecosystems You can Ship

This year we joined Amazon Prime which has increased our online shipping as well as the amount of cardboard that comes into the house.  We recycle it each week, but I feel bad when I see the pile of boxes that come into the house regularly.   There is a lot of water and energy that goes into making the cardboard and getting my purchases to my house.

Lifebox is a company that has figured out how to make cardboard into a packaging material as well as a designed ecosystem. The person behind the project is Paul Stamets, mushroom and fungi expert.  Cardboard is a perfect growth medium for encouraging the growth  of fungi and plants to symbiotically grow together. Each Lifebox contains around 100 different tree seeds and also is dusted with mycorrhizal spores that “protect and nurture” the seedlings. Stamets asks people to rip the box into large pieces, soak them in water, place the pieces in a plastic bag for 6-12 weeks, plant the cardboard panels, water and watch your Life Box sprout tree seedlings.

The seedlings will sprout a miniature forest. In about two years you can plant the trees or take them to a local nature preserve or park. The big picture with the project is to work with organizations like the forest service or non-profit agencies to direct people to public lands where their trees are most needed.  The seeds selected are non-invasive species and also have the biggest impact on reducing carbon in the atmosphere.

The Life Boxes are made in various sizes, and some of their partners include Whole Foods and other retailers.

The story behind the box is written on the site-

“ While growing many wood-decomposing mushrooms, my friends and I discovered the ‘wonders of cardboard’ for growing mycelium. Silky, diverging forks of mycelium would happily race down the valleys within the folds of corrugated cardboard. Having myco-mulched with cardboard for many years, I realized that cardboard could become a growth medium for encouraging guilds – communities – of fungi and plants symbiotically working together. Then, the epiphany hit me like a lightning bolt. Why not re-invent the cardboard box so each box becomes a designed ecosystem? “- Paul Stamets

Stamets sees the project as a simple way to “regreen” the planet, one box at a time.  So far, I have not gotten one of these in the mail, but I plan to ask at Whole Foods about this next time I go – to see if they use them or sell them.

Image Source:
www.lifeboxcompany.com

Links:

www.lifeboxcompany.com

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