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Our Sustainability Committment
Spawn & Kits
Our grain spawn is USDA certified organic and made from a locally sourced blend that features non-GMO organic millet and wheat berries.
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Our grow kits, fruiting blocks, and sawdust spawn are made from a blend of all-natural, organic, and non-GMO compost, North American hardwoods, and substrate supplements.
Sterile Substrates
Our injection port bag is USDA certified organic and made from a locally sourced blend that features non-GMO organic millet and wheat berries.
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Our manure-based substrate is made from a blend of organic, locally sourced non-GMO composted horse manure and substrate supplements. Our wood-based substrate is made from a blend of organic, non-GMO North American hardwoods, compost, and substrate supplements.
Wellness & Culinary
Our tinctures and capsules are made from certified organic, vegan, non-GMO mushroom extracts and are packaged in recyclable glass bottles. Our teas are made from locally-sourced, wild foraged mushrooms and are packaged in recyclable glass bottles.
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Our dried mushrooms are wild crafted from North American forests and harvested so as not to deplete the ecosystems where they grow.
Business Practices
The team at North Spore is committed to sustainability. We have consciously adopted business practices to decrease our environmental impact, including composting, recycling, locally sourcing, use of organic and non-GMO raw materials, wild crafting, and energy efficient production.
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We never use pesticides in our grow rooms and continually audit and improve our processes to lower our carbon footprint.
Are all North Spore products organic?
By law, we are required to have official certification from the USDA or a USDA-approved organic certifier to market our products as “organic.” Many of our products are already certified, many are in the process of being certified, and others fall into a “gray” area because they contain organic composted materials.
Currently, organic compost cannot be certified organic (even if it is organic!) which complicates our ability to obtain organic certification for blended products that contain organic compost. This includes kits, fruiting blocks, and some spawn and substrates. However, we are currently working with different governing bodies to navigate how best to obtain certification for these items in our product lineup.
The use of plastics in mushroom cultivation
It’s no secret that the mushroom industry uses a fair amount of single-use plastic. Most of this use is concentrated in large-scale indoor cultivation where plastic bags are used to house mushroom fruiting substrate. When alternative or outdoor techniques are employed, plastic use can be minimal. Growers can use reusable containers or inoculate outdoor garden beds and logs as an alternative to indoor bag cultivation.
North Spore creates educational resources to help make mushroom growing accessible and help both new and experienced mushroom growers expand their fungal horizons beyond plastic bag cultivation. North Spore is also committed to investing research and development funds and personnel towards discovering solutions to plastic use in the mushroom industry.