Tortilla Chips, Fresh Salsa, and a Greener Planet: How Recycled Glass Can Boost Your Garden
27.08.2024 - 17:41
/ theunconventionalgardener.com
/ Emma Doughty
/ Eco Garden
Header image: Cilantro seedlings grown in 100% recycled glass material.
Image credit: Andrea Quezada
Researchers from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley have come up with a novel way to make gardening easier and more sustainable.
Their pilot study – growing cilantro, bell peppers and jalapeños for a tasty salsa – found that substituting some of the soil in a planter with recycled glass fragments speeds up plant development and reduces unwanted fungal growth. They’ve just presented their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
When nanomaterial scientist Julie Vanegas joined the faculty at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, she was paired with a faculty mentor, Teresa Patricia Feria Arroyo, an ecologist who works on solving problems related to food security and sustainability. During their early conversations, Vanegas mentioned that she’d been assessing recycled glass particles for coastal restoration projects, such as growing willow trees. Feria wondered if glass could also be used for growing produce. To answer Feria’s question, they developed experiments for growing foods that people are familiar with, mature quickly and can be cultivated in container and backyard gardens — the ingredients for pico de gallo.
For their experiments, the researchers get recycled glass particles from a company that diverts bottles from landfills, crushes them into particles and tumbles the pieces to round off the edges. The final product is smooth enough that people can handle the glass bits without getting cut, says Quezada. Similarly, plant roots can easily grow around the glass pieces without being harmed.
“We’re trying to reduce landfill waste at the same time as growing edible vegetables,” says
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