MycoPod is a mushroom cultivation system that fosters community resourcefulness.
By using discarded coffee grounds as a medium to grow food, MycoPod shows how waste can be regenerative.
Researching the Global Waste Crisis
For my senior thesis, I decided to start by learning more about the global waste crisis with a focus on food packaging. Here are the biggest issues waste causes:
Pollution
By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Trash often doesn’t end up where it is meant to and pollutes ecosystems.
Injustice
Trash incinerators are often times placed in communities of color. The pollution from these facilities can cause asthma and cancer.
Climate Change
Landfills are anaeorbic. Since waste can’t properly break down without the presence of oxygen, methane, a greenhouse gas, is emitted.
Understanding trash makers
I asked people to hold onto their food-related trash for a week which gave me a better understanding of how one’s lifestyle affects the amount of trash they create. It also showed me that the food packaging waste from eating takeout was just about equal with the waste created from grocery store items.
Everyone I talked to wished they could minimize the amount of garbage they made, but found it hard to do so in the current framework of society.
Why Mushrooms?
I turned to nature to help give me insight on waste.
As it turns out, Earth does not treat waste linearly like humans do. Decomposers help break down matter into simpler components to be help new growth.
Not only do mushrooms recycle matter, they also produce an organism that can be eaten. Due to this, they play a very interesting role in closing the loop between consumption and waste.
Mushroom Cultivation
I started experimenting with cultivating edible mushrooms in my apartment and soon learned that growing mushrooms was way different than growing vegetables or herbs. I had to figure out a way to maintain specific humidity levels while still allowing fresh air exchange. I ended up making a shotgun fruiting chamber equipped with a hygrometer control, humidifier, and air holes.
Ideation
What is MycoPOD?
MycoPod is a mushroom cultivation system that fosters community resilience.
This system makes mushroom cultivation more accessible to users by offering a controlled pod that maintains humidity and air flow.
MycoPod kiosks can be found at various locations such as schools, cafes, and community centers.
By allowing users to contribute their own coffee grounds, MycoPod is emphasizing the way waste can be regenerative and localizes food production.
Brand Design: Emy Delights & Bites
SOCIAL MEDIA / newsletter Design: Kingston farmers market
Graphic design: Likedmindedobjects
poster design
Goal: to create a product that improves the indoor gardening experience for apartment dwellers through a human-centered design process
user research: What are pain points for houseplant owners?
Method: Contextual Inquires
Findings: Plant owners were stressed about watering/amount of space they have and plants enhanced their moods/connected them to positive memories
Problem Statement:
How might we transform the environment of plant lovers to save space, relieve watering stress, and increase overall mood?
Design Considerations:
Final Design:
Plantasia is a self-watering plant shelf that mitigates stress, saves space, and allows the user to display other trinkets that will invoke positive memories
Permaculture is a design process that encourages humans to shift from being a consumer to being a producer.
This process relies heavily on observation and whole-system thinking. It aims to create low input, high yield closed-loops systems in the form of edible gardens or energy systems.
In the Spring of 2021, I took a Permaculture Design Course with the Center of Bioregional Living. That summer, I became friends with a local permaculture designer and helped him design/install edible perennial gardens. Currently, I collaborate with my partner on our own property to grow our own food and invigorate the land.
