Maybe “green” isn’t the first word that comes to mind when you think of mushrooms, but one of the principal products of Evocative Design, based in Green Island, NY, is a packaging material that is gaining popularity, is entirely biodegradable, and, as a recent Associated Press story explains, grows itself: mushrooms.

Evocative Design’s founders, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, happened upon the subject as mechanical engineering students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where they grew fungus for a class project. They founded the company five years ago, aiming to break into the market for eco-friendly (i.e. green) packaging alternatives to plastic foam by offering soft blocks made of mycelium, the root-like fibers of mushrooms. Mycelium  can be mixed with pasteurized bits of seed husks or plant stalks and placed in shaped plastic molds where the mycelium grow around the plant material to fill up the mold, producing sets of small packaging blocks in each mold tray. The blocks are then heat dried to kill the fungus.

So far, Evocative Design’s products seem to be catching on. Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) and Crate & Barrel are customers, and the company recently announced an alliance with packaging specialist Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) that is intended to augment Evocative’s production, distribution, and sales. The company – which employs 42 people and has attracted more than $10 million in grants and equity investment — also is doubling its 10,000-square-foot production space, the AP points out.