Hello lovely readers,

Here are five feel-good sustainable stories that caught my eye this past week. I thought you might love them too!

1. Check out Ecovative, a company that creates Myco Foam (and other Earth-friendly materials). Myco Foam is mushroom-based insulated packaging. Think fresh fish, wine, and marine buoys. Why Myco Foam? It helps reduce Styrofoam—a product that takes up to 500 years or forever to break down.

2. Here’s another high-tech innovative solution to eliminate, or at least replace, some of the Styrofoam used in shipping fresh fish globally—BluWrap. BluWrap uses fuel cells to actively reduce and consistently monitor oxygen while the product is shipped in refrigerated containers, extending the shelf life of fresh proteins well beyond 40 days, according to its website.

3. On the beautiful side of fishy things, check out Gyotaku by Naoki where Japanese traditiona, fresh fish, and squid ink meet shoji paper to create beautiful, classic keepsakes. I’m ready to go to Hawaii to take a class or do a tee shirt party! What about you?

4. Here’s another cool artistic idea with a sustainable seafood angle. Where art meets commerce: Tidal Vision’s Alaska salmon wallets. Yep, they’re made from sustainably-sourced salmon skin.

5. Here’s a big boon for aquaculture! On January 11, 2016, NOAA announced the first comprehensive regulatory program for aquaculture in US federal waters. Not only will this opportunity reduce the amount of fish imports to the US, but it will create sustainable fish protein and jobs for American fishermen.

Bonus story. And lastly, here’s a “just because.” Since I am trying to write more poetry, which means I am reading more poetry, I thought The Fish by Billy Collins was worth sharing. It’s one of my favorite’s for its witty, casual style, and its reference to my hometown, Pittsburgh. Enjoy!

Got a feel good sustainable story or business idea you’d like to share? Or maybe you pen poems about fish? Either way, drop me a line.

Hugs,
M