1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff. 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Lauren boglebam here with another classic episode from Our earthWhile 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: host Christian Sager. This one has to do with some 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,440 Speaker 1: awesome environmental research that almost never came to light. I'll 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: let Christian explain, Hey brain Stuff, it's Christian Sager. Imagine 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: if some of Earth's most barren waste lands could be 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: transformed into dense, productive forests by the most unlikely of helpers, 8 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: discarded fruit peels. It sounds like wishful thinking, but that's 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: exactly what happened. In the nineteen nineties. During a promising 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 1: ecological experiment, orange juice manufacturer del Oro plunked twelve thousand 11 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: metric tons It's around thirteen thousand, two hundred eight tons 12 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: of orange peels on top of bleak coasta Rican pasture land, 13 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: eventually transforming it into a lush, fertile forest. But it's 14 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: a success story that almost wasn't told. Del Oro donated 15 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: a seven acre or three hacked or plot on the 16 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: edge of the Wanna Caste Conservation area after being approached 17 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: by University of Pennsylvania researchers Daniel Jansen and Winnie hal 18 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: Walks who wondered how the companies discarded orange peels could 19 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: benefit the soil in The company deposited one thousand truckloads 20 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: of orange skins onto the degraded land as part of 21 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:39,559 Speaker 1: the agreement, but rival orange squeezer Tico Fruit, sued del 22 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: Oro a year into the contract, claiming the company was 23 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: defiling a national park. Costa Rica's Supreme Court agreed, and 24 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: after only two years, the experiment came to a halt. 25 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: That could have been the end of the story were 26 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:59,279 Speaker 1: it not for Timothy Truer, a curious ecologist at Princeton University. 27 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: In Team, Truer and a team of researchers traveled to 28 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: Costa Rica for unrelated research and decided to look up 29 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: the orange peel plot. The site's sign was so covered 30 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: with vines and the land so densely filled with trees 31 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: that it took the team years and dozens of site 32 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: visits to discover it. The team sampled and studied the 33 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: soil at the site and compared it to samples that 34 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,239 Speaker 1: were taken in the year two thousand. It also noted 35 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: tree diameter and species from the orange peel site and 36 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: that of a nearby pasture that wasn't treated with peels. 37 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: The researchers found that the treated area had richer soil, 38 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: more tree biomass, and a broader variety of tree species, 39 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: including a fig tree with a circumference equivalent to three armspans. 40 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 1: The precise reasons for this one hundred and seventies six 41 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: percent increase and above ground biomass are still being investigated, 42 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: but the researchers contend dumping massive amounts of nutrient rich 43 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: organic waste had a nearly immediate effect on the land's fertility, 44 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: changing its lifeless soil into a thick, rich, loamy mixture. 45 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: The researchers proposed it's also probable that the orange peels 46 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: suppressed growth of an invasive grass that was keeping the 47 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: forest from flourishing. Not only is the rediscovery of the 48 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: experiment a boon for barren landscapes and agricultural waste, but 49 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: it also could have a major impact on Earth if 50 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: more companies institute similar environmentally friendly solutions to waste, the 51 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,839 Speaker 1: resulting richly vegetated land could help isolate harmful carbon dioxide 52 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: in the air and improve Earth's polluted atmosphere. So consider 53 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: this an estimated fifty of all fresh produce in the 54 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: United States, or roughly sixty six million tons or sixty 55 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: million metric tons of produce is thrown away annually, making 56 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: it the single largest ingredient in American land thrills. Today's 57 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: episode was written by Loyal Dove and produced by Dylan 58 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: Fagan and Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots 59 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: of other green topics, visit how stuff works dot com. 60 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio or more podcasts. 61 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: My heart Radio visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 62 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.