Since the 1950s’, humans have produced over 9 billion tons of plastic. Most of that is ending up in landfills and could take centuries to decompose. A miracle material found in nature could be the key to reducing plastic waste, it’s called mycelium and it comes from mushrooms.

自20世纪50年代以来，人类已经生产了超过90亿吨的塑料。这些垃圾中的大部分最终被填埋，可能需要几个世纪才能分解。在自然界中发现的一种神奇的材料可能是减少塑料垃圾的关键，它被称为菌丝，来自蘑菇。

EBEN BAYER, ECOVATIVE CEO: Mycelium is like the root structure of a mushroom. You’re used to seeing a mushroom above ground. Mycelium is like the roots beneath it but no one had ever tried to use them to make materials.

菌丝就像蘑菇的根结构。你习惯了在地面上看到蘑菇。菌丝就像它下面的根一样，但是从来没有人试图用它们来制造材料。

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eben Bayer is the CEO of Ecovative, a company that has developed a way to grow mycelium into specific shapes and sizes. They start by taking organic plant waste and mixing it with mycelium cells which act as a sort of natural glue.

Eben Bayer是Ecovative公司的首席执行官，该公司已经研发出一种将菌丝培育成特定形状和大小的方法。他们首先将有机植物废料与菌丝细胞混合，其中菌丝细胞作为一种天然粘合剂。

BAYER: The mycelium grows through and around those particles and it binds them together and you’ve got a grown product.

菌丝体在这些颗粒的周围生长并将它们结合在一起就得到了一个成熟的产物。

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ecovative mycelium products provide a natural alternative to packaging materials made out of plastic and Styrofoam.

生态菌丝体产品提供了一种天然的替代塑料和聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料包装材料。

BAYER: But at the ends of its useful life, you can actually break it up and you can put it in your own garden. So it’s - - it’s a nutrient not a pollutant.

但在它的使用寿命结束时，实际上可以把它拆开，可以把它放在你自己的花园里。所以它是一种营养物质而不是污染物。

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ecovative wants to take mycelium to the next level.

Ecovative希望将菌丝提升到下一个层次。

BAYER: Our current technical focus is developing the next generation of mycelium materials from (inaudible) scaffolding, to leather like materials, even meat replacements.

我们目前的技术重点是开发下一代菌丝体材料，从脚手架，到皮革类材料，甚至肉类替代品。

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: AKA, mycelium bacon which is still in its testing phases. The company thinks mycelium could also play a major role in construction and even in regenerative medicine.

AKA，又名菌丝体培根，目前仍处于试验阶段。该公司认为菌丝还可以在建筑甚至再生医学中发挥重要作用。

BAYER: It really has boundless possibilities and it comes from its ability to move from the micro scale to the macro scale.

真的有无限的可能性，无论是微观尺度还是宏观尺度。

Since the 1950s’, humans have produced over 9 billion tons of plastic. Most of that is ending up in landfills and could take centuries to decompose. A miracle material found in nature could be the key to reducing plastic waste, it’s called mycelium and it comes from mushrooms.

EBEN BAYER, ECOVATIVE CEO: Mycelium is like the root structure of a mushroom. You’re used to seeing a mushroom above ground. Mycelium is like the roots beneath it but no one had ever tried to use them to make materials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eben Bayer is the CEO of Ecovative, a company that has developed a way to grow mycelium into specific shapes and sizes. They start by taking organic plant waste and mixing it with mycelium cells which act as a sort of natural glue.

BAYER: The mycelium grows through and around those particles and it binds them together and you’ve got a grown product.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ecovative mycelium products provide a natural alternative to packaging materials made out of plastic and Styrofoam.

BAYER: But at the ends of its useful life, you can actually break it up and you can put it in your own garden. So it’s - - it’s a nutrient not a pollutant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ecovative wants to take mycelium to the next level.

BAYER: Our current technical focus is developing the next generation of mycelium materials from (inaudible) scaffolding, to leather like materials, even meat replacements.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: AKA, mycelium bacon which is still in its testing phases. The company thinks mycelium could also play a major role in construction and even in regenerative medicine.

BAYER: It really has boundless possibilities and it comes from its ability to move from the micro scale to the macro scale.