Environmental activists in Corvallis, Oregon are using mushrooms to clean the polluted runoff water from storm drains before it reaches the Sequoia Creek and the Wilamette River. Volunteers from Ocean Blue Project are working to protect local waterways by putting burlap bags filled with a substrate of coffee grounds and straw in drainage areas where mushroom roots, called mycelium, can work to break down a variety of pollutants in the water including oil, pesticides and bacteria like E. coli.


Environmental activists in Corvallis, Oregon are testing the use of mushrooms to clean the polluted runoff water from storm drains before it reaches the Sequoia Creek and in turn, the Willamette River.

Volunteers from Ocean Blue Project are working to protect local waterways and have placed their first burlap bag filled with a substrate of coffee grounds and straw in a drainage area where mushroom roots, called mycelium, will hopefully work to break down a variety of pollutants in the water including oil, pesticides and bacteria like E. coli.

Water pollution levels have led the Washington Environmental Council to use a similar strategy in the Puget Sound area.

It could be an inexpensive and natural method to cut down on water pollution, backed by a separate study showing it contributed to removing certain bacteria from water.

Richard Arterbury, president of the Ocean Blue Project is quoted as saying: “If you put enough of these bags by the Willamette River, it could potentially change the river.”

Ocean Blue Project reportedly has plans to put more of the mushroom bags in storm water runoff drains, and to continue monitoring the effects they have on water pollution.