05/27/2026
I nearly flipped out in the food forest today because I thought I had found Styrofoam breaking apart in the garden 🧐😳🧐😳
Then my son calmly explained that it was actually the internal pith/foam from the stems of Mexican sunflower (perennial yellow tithonia) 🌻
Ironically, this plant has been somewhat of a bane of my existence because I’ve tried to remove it multiple times and it just keeps thriving 😂 But seeing that lightweight natural internal structure immediately got me thinking…
At a time when polystyrene foam pollution is everywhere …and some potting mixes now even use foam materials as substitutes for more expensive inputs …I can’t help but wonder about the potential of resilient, carbon-sequestering plants as biomaterials.
Unlike Styrofoam: plants feed pollinators, build soil, sequester carbon, biodegrade naturally, and regenerate themselves
Research on styrene/polystyrene exposure has raised concerns about possible carcinogenicity and reproductive impacts in occupational settings😷😭
These are exactly the kinds of regenerative design questions researchers, growers, and innovators should be exploring:
How do we replace toxic waste streams with living systems?
We’ll be discussing ideas like this and many more, including patent-ready plants and the process of filing a patent, during our 10-Day Permaculture Design Certification Course this August 🌿🌎🙏🏼
📍 Pike Food Forest, Jupiter Farms, FL
📅 August 17–26, 2026
https://jupiterfarmspermaculture.eventbrite.com/
20% off with discount code PDCMAMAS by 6/1/26!!
