GoKawiil
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PepsiCo highlighted Perry Farms, a multigenerational Alberta farm that has supplied potatoes for Lay's for over 40 years, as an example of regenerative agriculture in action. The farm uses data-driven tools and soil-health practices to strengthen resilience against climate and supply-chain pressures.
Scientists used a citizen-science method of burying cotton underwear in soil for several months as a low-cost way to assess microbial activity, since healthier soil decomposes cotton fabric faster. Volunteers around the world dug up roughly 1,000 pairs and reported how much material had degraded, generating a broad dataset on soil condition.
Researchers at the University of Zurich recruited 1,000 volunteers to bury cotton underpants in soil across Switzerland for two months as part of a citizen science project called 'Proof by Underpants.' After digging them up, scientists measured how much fabric had decomposed to gauge microbial activity and overall soil quality, publishing the results in Plants People Planet.
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.