Scientists Discovered A Mushroom That Eats Plastic

(Upworthy) Plastic waste is one of the biggest environmental issues of our time. And while a straw ban is not the way were going to solve it heres why people everywhere are looking for ways to reduce plastic use and mitigate the effects of waste. From handing out plastic bags with embarrassing labels to removing the plastic from six-packs to harnessing the power of a plastic-eating mutant (bacteria) more and more of us are working to find solutions to a growing global program. Add one more strange and awesome plastic-killing discover to the list: A rare mushroom that feasts on plastic the same way you or I would when we go to that $5 buffet at Cicis. (I have been only once and Im still thinking about it even though just the thoughts are bad for my blood pressure.) According to reports the mushrooms plastic-devouring properties were first discovered in 2011 when a team of Yale undergraduates and their professor traveled to Ecuador for a research trip. They found the mushroom Pestalotiopsis microspora in the amazon and were astounded to find that the fungus not only subsists on polyurethane (its the first plant to sustain itself only on plastic) but could do so without oxygen.