About the project
Shroom Shelter is a compostable mycelium tree shelter which eliminates the plastic pollution associated with tree planting.
Mass tree planting to tackle the climate change is acknowledged. Tree shelters are often used to protect saplings from herbivore damage, which in Scotland is due primarily to the growing deer population. Photodegradable (not compostable) UV stabilised polypropylene shelters are commonly used with a stake and cable ties and if so require 8x more investment.
Due to the higher costs, Catriona’s research identified plastic shelters are often abandoned leading to plastic pollution. Therefore Shroom Shelter proposes an ‘install & forget’ concept of a compostable shelter which does not need to be collected, therefore reducing labour costs, and therefore prevent plastic pollution. The design has been developed to protect the sapling for a specific time period before it degrades and the young tree is released as it begins to compost into the soil. The design also eliminates the use of cable ties to attach the stake, ventilation holes to control light and air temperature and stacking efficiency for transportation.
To reflect the remote and spread out location of tree planting sites, Catriona proposes a decentralised small-scale production system on identified local sites. The substrate would be sourced from local waste streams like forestry and farm waste.
Catriona is a First Class graduate of MEng Product Design Engineering from University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. Sustainability is key to all her creative work. A final year project, Shroom Shelter is in development, with trials due and collaborators sought.