USING FUNGI TO CLEAN UP OIL SPILLS

Nicola Peel, The Amazon Mycorenewal Project; Amazon, Ecuador
2011, 16 min 43 sec

Mycoremediation in the Ecuadorian Amazon shows how mushrooms are helping to clean up oil spills in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Mycoremediation is an incredible technique using fungi to break down oil and other contaminants. This short film shows how the Amazon Mycorenewal Project initiated the first trials using mycoremediation in highly polluted areas of the Ecuadorian rainforest. Between 1964 and 1982, Texaco spilled over 18.5 billion gallons of toxic waste into unlined waste pools in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle. Learn about this team of mycoremediation-enthusiasts that went down there to establish an ongoing project to clean up the pollution – using the healing power of mushrooms.