What should we do with unwanted glass bottles? Turn them back into sand and use them to grow food!
Researchers are experimenting with using recycled glass to replace some or all of the soil used to grow vegetables. This project could turn waste into a solution for soil erosion and the current sand shortage.
Read an ACS press release about this research: Pilot study uses recycled glass to grow plants for salsa ingredients
“Evaluating recyclable glass material as a substitute for soil in vegetable cultivation: An innovative approach to sustainable agriculture”
Presented at ACS Fall 2024 on Aug. 21, 2024
Presenter: Andrea Quezada
Principal investigators: Julie Vanegas, Ph.D., and Teresa Feria-Arroyo, Ph.D.
Video credits:
Written by Anne Hylden
Produced by Kerri Jansen and Anne Hylden
Edited by Darren Weaver
Narrated by Anne Hylden
Executive produced by Matthew Radcliff
Hadley Marcek, Ph.D. contributed research for this video.
Research videos by Eric Zamora and Maria Rebeca Santos Chavez
Additional video: Shutterstock, Getty Images
Music: “Flying Kites” by Station Story from Epidemic Sound.
Transcript
This tiny plant is growing in soil mixed with glass, which could help solve three big problems.
First, glass often goes to waste, since it’s hard to recycle when mixed with other materials. Second, there’s a shortage of sand because we extract billions of tons of it every year. Third, soil erosion is making farmland less fertile and waterways more polluted.
To keep glass out of landfills, some groups collect used bottles and break them down for reuse.
This glass is the size and shape of coarse sand. Scientists are experimenting with adding it to soil for growing vegetables. When the plants bear fruit, the scientists will test nutrient levels and analyze root growth. They hope that putting glass in soil will make it less prone to wind erosion. So they can use glass waste to replace a depleting natural resource and support sustainable agriculture.
This research is being presented at ACS Fall 2024, a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
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