Fungi visit the bike shop as Toxic Avenger

October 5, 2011

2–3 minutes

mushroom DIY, mushroom technology, mycoremediation

This is a little project that I started at the bike shop that I manage in Eugene. Its a simple goal: bike shops make a LOT of toxic waste with all of the petroleum greases, chemical solvents, and other random fluids applied to bicycles. Usually these end up on the bench tops and towels and either get thrown away or are washed into the waste-water stream. It is a situation that’s had me irked for years, here we are keeping folks “green” by keeping their bikes on the road, but many a mess is made to provide for that.

So, first step, deal with these troublemakers:

With the benchtop my approach was to cut up a corrugated cardboard bike box and cover the workspace. I nailed it down to the wood bench so that the grease and solvents would be absorbed into it. The cardboard is an excellent snack for the lignin munchin fungi that I will use to break everything down. This is the bench after abut 4 weeks:

Wheel Bench, and yes, a window! — Wheel bench, and yes, a window!

It’s time for a change-up, so my first step is to remove the cardboard and then roll it up. Next I cut them in half and put them in a re-used styrofoam cooler that has a nice fitting lid. I use re-used zip-ties to hold the rolls together and will remove them later.

Once the rolls are neatly packed in there I poured in about a half gallon of warm water. This is vital for the fungi to take the cardboard on as a new home. After about an hour of soaking in the water I stood the rolls upright and packed in between the layers the innoculum of Hypsizygus ulmarius ( aka the White Elm). This is a strain of this species that I have personally developed away from a gourmet stock strain. By generating genetic diversity and applying petroleum products in the new substrates I was able to select a strain that had a diet for petrol products.

DSCF0043 — Spawn jar and high-tech transfer equipment

So my first update is in, it’s a week later and the mycelium has regrouped and grown in and out of the rolls. The H. ulmarius strain used here is very aggressive, and usually is difficult to keep from fruiting, so keeping the lid on all but to check in on it once a week keeps the CO2 production high and fruitings scarce. I will post updates here periodically. I’m planning to have it digest some of the dirty rags as well and then after a few months I will have what is left tested for toxicity. Hit me with ideas and questions please!

For a more in-depth article click here !

6 responses to “Fungi visit the bike shop as Toxic Avenger”

llindalogan

October 25, 2011 at 10:39 pm

I love this demonstration of toxic cleanup. Every bike, automotive shop would benefit from your approach and the world will sing your praises (probably in those elfin voices that are hard to hear).
Add a subscribe widget to your site so we can keep up with your posts.
Got any fungi that repel rats? Rats have decided my greenhouse floor is a great tunnel space and I have been forced to poison them (traps haven’t worked).
Great work
Linda

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Patrick

April 13, 2012 at 9:44 pm

Any updates on this project? I’d love to hear more about the results here. How many iterations of selection did you go through with the initial strain used for inoculation before finding one that seemed suitable? Great idea for cleaning up commonly produced waste!

Reply
1. fuligocristata
  
  April 13, 2012 at 9:57 pm
  
  Hello Patrick, I went through a little over 200 variations of H. Ulmarius until I found the one I am working with now, through I am currently working to isolate a strain that is more aggressive at cold temperatures. Currently the project posted about on the site has had about 20-30 more greasy rags added, which it has consumed, but not yet to the point of complete digestion. I’ve added about 10 pounds of alder sawdust/chips to the box a few months ago, which has increased the activity immensely. I’ve also started a 55gallon drum digester with this strain, will have a post up about it by the end of the month. Also have my hand in a number of in-situe soil remediation projects over the last few years, current legal standings on such projects have kept me from posting on them here though, in due time. What are you up to?
  
  Reply
  1. Shawn Duncan
    
    May 15, 2012 at 4:17 pm
    
    I would love to have you come to the Oregon Country Fair and show your demonstration in the mycology booth! Get in touch with me if your interested. This is an awesome project.
  2. fuligocristata
    
    May 15, 2012 at 7:28 pm
    
    That sounds fantastic! I do have a month long installation job that I was planning to do over July, but the dates are easily flexible on that, and I was hoping to present at Oregon Country Faire at some point, so thanks for getting a hold of me. Please feel free to email me directly at FungiForThePeople@gmail.com so we can figure a few details, as there are a few things I would be interested in presenting on, or give me a shout sometime at (586)321-9727. Be wild, be well, Ja
Using fungi to clean up bike grease « Radical Mycology

May 15, 2012 at 9:11 am

[…] to digest the old grease from his bicycle shop. Wow! He even made up a great how-to on the process here. You can read the intro […]

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