A startup founded by 2 college friends is turning mushrooms into walls — and it's already doing deals with major companies like Dell

Polystyrene foam — known more commonly as Styrofoam — is terrible for the environment.

Not only does it take centuries to break down in soil, some of it never gets there in the first place, instead ending up in lakes, streams, and the ocean, where it fills the stomachs of fish and birds.

So two friends, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, came up with an alternative. Their new company, Ecovative, makes building insulation and packaging materials that break down completely in the environment.

Their secret ingredients? Mushroom roots and farm waste.

It might sound out-there, but the startup is catching the attention of several big companies, including computer giant Dell, who is already using its products, and Swedish furniture maker Ikea, who is considering doing the same.

Here's a look inside the place where all of it gets made:

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This is Styrofoam. It doesn't break down in the environment — at least not for more than a million years (literally). Yet we use it in tons of different types of packaging, from cups to building materials.

Source: Cleveland State University

Ecovative wants to change that. Founded in 2006 by then-classmates Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, the company makes an alternative to Styrofoam out of mushrooms that's completely biodegradable — be it in a fully-rigged compost system or simply someone's backyard.

"What we're doing is an exciting and innovative approach to try a bunch of ideas, learn a lot, and grow something really awesome," Bayer told Business Insider.