I’ve just been reading up on mycoremediation, or cleaning soil with beneficial fungi, at Fungi Perfecti.

Here’s an exerpt:

What can you do? Delineate your garbage into categories. Not only compost all organic debris, but segregate the refuse into piles appropriate for a variety of desired mushroom species. Inoculate cardboard and paper products, coffee grounds, and wood debris with mushroom spawn. Teach children about the role of fungi, especially mushrooms, in the forests and their critical role in building soils. Encourage mushrooms to grow in your yards by mulching around plants. Take advantage of catastrophia—natural disasters are perfect opportunities for community-action recycling projects. We should learn from our elders. Native peoples worldwide have viewed fungi as spiritual allies. They are not only the guardians of the forest. They are the guardians of our future.

Interesting stuff. Being able to filter agricultural runoff and get edible mushrooms at the same time sounds like a great idea. They’ve also been using oyster mushrooms to clean up oil spills; read the whole article to learn more.