Just think – what if all the cardboard boxes that you receive when you buy online from Amazon or Apple had seeds in them and you could simply put them in your nearest plot of soil and grow some baby trees? Well that is just what the incredible mycologist and mycomimicry advocate Paul Stamets has done by releasing the Life Box™. It can be made to virtually any dimension, does not increase the cost of shipping, and the tree seed mix has been approved by the Department of Agriculture for planting in every state in the continental United States (not Hawaii), and Canada. It’s so smart that Al Gore, who is always ahead of the curve, decided to ship his new book ‘Our Choice‘ in them!
If you do the math it is quite impressive what one could achieve with this clever box: a 1-2% share of the cardboard box market in the United States could cover up to 25,000 acres of land per week! Of the hundreds of tree seeds in each box, if only one survives for 30 years, approximately one ton of carbon will be sequestered. Therefore, the potential for coverage by trees coming from Life Boxes™ expands from 25,000 acres to 25,000,000 acres per week.
Paul Stamets says “the Life Box™ is a form of social as well as ecological currency and a shovel ready do-it-yourself climate change solution“. Planting trees also provides more shade for buildings to reduce the use of air-conditioning, helps the soil hold more moisture, preserves aquifers and even prevents flooding in cities as Andy Lipkis has demonstrated in LA. The Life Box™ is manufactured in the United States using recycled cardboard and soy-based inks. So what are you waiting for? Go plant one today!
by Thomas Ermacora
Company News
July 02, 2010 
