When talking about potential solutions about the ongoing hunger issue in the world, some may never think about mattresses.
Syrian refugees from the Zaatari camp, Jordan are collaborating with scientists from the Sheffield University and the UN Refugee Agency to come up with new methods to grow healthy and fresh food using nothing but water and foam from old mattresses.
Also known as recycled gardens, these mattresses are used instead of soil to solve two problems at once- they reuse the pile of plastic mattresses in the camp and allow people to grow fresh food in a crowded and desert surrounding.
How It Was Discovered that Mattresses Can Help Grow Food?
Tony Ryan is a professor of chemistry from the University of Sheffield who came up with the idea after seeing a tomato growing from a mattress at a landfill.
This led him to believe that other plants are also able to grow on foam.
So, Ryan had a PhD student of his, Harry Wright, focus on the usage of polyurethane to grow crops for the production of food.
In the meantime, he and his team went to a Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan- the largest camp in the world for those affected by the Syrian Civil War.
The aim was to help the people there learn how to develop useful products from wastage.
Being a Refugee Is Difficult
Being a refugee isn’t easy at all- these people are forced to move out of their homes and go to foreign lands.
Plus, country’s regulations don’t always allow them to apply for work, build residences, etc.
In the Zaatari camp, becoming self-reliant isn’t easy. Despite many of these people being engineers, doctors, farmers, and technicians, they rely on international aid.
Professor Tony visited a warehouse at the camp full of discarded mattresses. He thought ‘why not use the mattresses as growing surface for plants?’
The discarded mattresses were given by the UN refugee Agency to aid workers; however, once they were no longer usable, they were put in the warehouse.
How Can a Mattress Become a Surface for Crop Growing?
For the professor, the hydroponic system is highly beneficial for people in this camp.
The condition of the soil, the small area, the bunch of discarded mattresses, and disposable containers can be helpful for the growth of food.
After the introduction of the idea, the refugees were trained for the basic principles.
Until now, more than 200 refugees in the camp have been taught how to use mattresses as alternative soil and grow plants using it.
Today, there’s a size of a tennis court area covered in the mattress system.
This Method May Help Cease World Hunger?
Since this method was found to be beneficial, it may be looked at as a potential solution to put an end to the ongoing problem of hunger in the world.
The professor said that if we can make it work here, we can make it anywhere.
Unfortunately, worldwide, there are more than 2 billion people that are hungry. In India only, 14.5 percent of their population is undernourished, according to a 2019 FAO report.
Innovative solutions like this are pivotal if we take into account that the world population is expected to grow by 10 billion by the year of 2050.
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