A Mushrooming Industry That Serves the Dead

The Bureau of Reclamation updated its plan for the Central Valley Project, which is a massive, federally operated, 400-mile system of dams, reservoirs, and canals that provide water to irrigate about one-third of the state’s agriculture. 

California’s State Water Project also moves water south. Both the state and the feds take water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a critical habitat for wildlife, and fish, like salmon and delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus). Back in 2009, NOAA Fisheries issued a report concluding that long-term operations of both projects jeopardized salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, and even orcas that depend on the salmon for food.

The Trump administration views the protection of the wildlife as lopsided. In January, after destructive fires decimated the Los Angeles area, the president issued an order titled “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California.” As the Los Angeles Times reports, the president has asked why water should be kept in a river to help a tiny little fish like the delta smelt

State officials have told the Trump administration that taking more water from the delta and putting it into federal canals and reservoirs will significantly harm fish and the ecosystem and that the state might need to cut allocations to cities and farms to protect it. The State Water Project is lawfully bound to comply with water quality and flow requirements and cannot operate in the way assumed by the new federal plan, according to Jeff Mount of the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Center, who spoke to the Sacramento Bee. 

While agricultural water districts favored Trump’s plan, the California officials also warned that increased federal pumping would threaten water deliveries from its own system that serves 27 million people and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. The result of implementing the Trump plan, according to the Los Angeles Times, is uncertainty for cities that depend on water from the delta and disruption of the cooperation between the federal government and California that has been going on for many years.

Zillow has started the trend to remove risk scores, and other similar websites are being pressured by the real estate industry to follow. According to a recent report for the real estate industry, almost 45 percent of homes in the U.S. are at severe or extreme risk of at least one type of climate or weather event such as flooding, winds, wildfires, heat, or hazardous air quality. Zillow had used data from the risk-modeling firm First Street. 

However, real estate agents said that those scores hurt sales, and home sellers also objected, saying there was no way to challenge the rating, according to the New York Times. The California Regional Multiple Listing Service, which has a large data base of homes for sale in the country, pressured Zillow, which is funded by real estate brokers and agents. The real estate industry is concerned that predictions of risk have ended up being very wrong about flooding in California. A statement sent to the Times by a Zillow spokesperson said that it is committed to giving consumers helpful information and now provides hyperlinks to the First Street website.

CNN reported that First Street’s risk models are secret and that they sell data to banks, corporations, and real estate companies. An expert at an outside firm told the news organization that risk modeling at an individual property level can have wide-ranging variations. Other companies in the climate risk industry also keep their models secret.

Researchers in Finland have found that Norway spruce trees (Picea abies) growing over gold deposits have gold nanoparticles in their needles. The team from the University of Oulu and the Geological Survey of Finland say that if gold is in soil, it’s likely in a liquid form. The trees were found to take up water infused with the gold through their roots and move it to their needles, where bacteria and microbes convert it back into solid, nanosized particles. 

Spruce aren’t the only gold-digging trees. Several years ago, the metal was found in the leaves of Eucalyptus trees. The process is called biomineralization and it’s where minerals, like gold, accumulate and solidify inside plant tissues as part of its defense mechanisms. 

In the Finland study, only four of 23 Norway spruce trees had the nanoparticles in their needles, which might indicate that roots were tapping into different water sources. For that reason, the team says the trees could offer a bio-based and environmentally friendly way to explore for minerals.

The study was published in the journal Environmental Microbiome.

The Loop Biotech company has got you covered, offering the world’s first mushroom coffin. The caskets are biodegradable and made from local fungi and upcycled hemp fibers. They fully decompose in just 45 days.

The coffins degrade because they rely on mycelium, the root network of mushrooms—nature’s most powerful recycler. The company offers caskets that can be buried or sit on a forest floor. They also offer urns for ashes, including ones for pets called Loop FurEver™ that can be decorated with organic paint to add a personal and loving touch. The Loop Biotech coffins are lined with moss and have jute handles so they can be carried to their final resting place.

That’s a stark contrast to traditional coffins that take decades to degrade. Many funeral homes offer caskets treated with lacquers or varnishes and contain pillows and mattresses. The box is then sealed with metal hardware. Several studies have found these coffins pollute soils and groundwater. 

Instead of those “dead” materials, the Loop company says mushroom caskets enrich the soil by releasing nutrients from our loved ones into the ground, which allows new life to flourish.

Sustainable end-of-life options are gaining popularity according to the ​Green Burial Council as an affordable, eco-friendly alternative to traditional funerals. One survey found that 84 percent of respondents said they would consider a green burial if it were offered to them. So, Loop Biotech asks—will you be waste or compost? They hope you’ll choose the latter and make your final act your greatest.