Sam Shoemaker’s record-setting voyage shows the promise – and limits – of fungi as a plastic alternative
Smadar Spector
He crossed 26 miles in a kayak made from mushrooms – and lived to tell the tale
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/07/mushroom-kayak-plastic-alternative?utm_term=68c2acde135c877a8468dfeba89575d1&utm_campaign=DownToEarth&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=greenlight_email
On a clear, still morning in early August, Sam Shoemaker launched his kayak into the waters off Catalina Island and began paddling. His goal: to traverse the open ocean to San Pedro, just south of Los Angeles, some 26.4 miles away.
But upon a closer look, Shoemaker’s kayak was no ordinary kayak. Brown-ish yellow and bumpy in texture, it had been made – or rather, grown – entirely from mushrooms. His journey, if successful, would mark the world’s longest open-water journey in a kayak built from this unique material.
Smadar Spector
He crossed 26 miles in a kayak made from mushrooms – and lived to tell the tale
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/07/mushroom-kayak-plastic-alternative?utm_term=68c2acde135c877a8468dfeba89575d1&utm_campaign=DownToEarth&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=greenlight_email
on a clear, still morning in early August, Sam Shoemaker launched his kayak into the waters off Catalina Island and began paddling. His goal: to traverse the open ocean to San Pedro, just south of Los Angeles, some 26.4 miles away.