GoKawiilSwiss study buries 2,000 cotton underpants to map national soil health
Agroscope researchers enlisted about 1,000 citizen scientists to bury more than 2,000 pairs of organic cotton underwear and 12,000 tea bags at 1,000 sites across Switzerland. After one and two months, participants dug up the items and returned them so scientists could measure how much material had been eaten away by soil organisms, using decomposition as a proxy for biological activity. Private gardens showed the highest soil activity of any land type tested, while lawns showed the lowest.