Styrofoam is one of the most commonly used materials for packaging takeaway food and beauty products. Sure, it’s useful, but it’s especially harmful to the environment because it is non-recyclable. According to the Society for Environmental Journalists, Styrofoam is the most commonly littered product and accounts for 30% of global landfills. Plus, the material takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 years to degrade naturally. What’s more, the manufacturing of plastic releases harmful greenhouse gases into the ozone, and its degradation releases toxic chemicals into the air and soil.

Thankfully, there are alternatives to our styrofoam addiction. New Zealand start-up Mushroom Material has developed a sustainable packaging alternative made from fungi. An ideal replacement to Styrofoam for many products, the beauty world is especially smitten with this new substrate.