IKEA plans for mushroom-based packaging from the U.S.
The Swedish furniture retailer is looking into using biodegradable mycelium “fungi packaging” to reduce waste and increase recycling. The packaging, which can decompose in a garden within weeks, will replace polystyrene, which is tricky to recycle. The ingenious, eco-friendly packaging is a revolutionary invention, developed by American company Ecovative and manufactured in Troy, New York. Mycelium is the part of a fungus that effectively acts as its roots. It grows in a mass of branched fibers, attaching itself to whatever surface it is growing on. It is then dried to prevent it from growing any further, creating the perfect packaging for boxed retail products.

Swedish McView-Master
McDonald's Sweden is celebrating the Happy Meal's 30th anniversary by turning Happy Meal boxes into virtual-reality viewers. Called “Happy Goggles,” some 3,500 of them will be available for purchase at 14 restaurants in Sweden during the weekends of March 5 and March 12, which fall during “sportlov,” the winter break. Many families go skiing during sportlov, so the fast-food chain created a ski-themed VR game, "Slope Stars," for use with the goggles (and any mobile VR experience). Designed by a marketing company in Stockholm, the box is easy to transform into Happy Goggles: just tear along some perforated lines, fold it and insert the VR lenses (included) and a smartphone (your own). This is the first trial run in the world, so there's a chance the program will be expanded if it proves popular.