Soil is being washed away 10 to 40 times faster than it is being replenished all over the world, destroy¬ing an area of cropland the size of Indiana every year; some 40% of the world’s agricultural land is seriously degraded. Among the worst affected regions are Central America, where 75% of land is infertile, Africa, where a fifth of soil is degraded, and Asia, where 11% is unsuitable for farming.
Two excellent properties of a mattress is its surface area and flexibility – a mattress is able to take on the form of the substrate beneath.
How then can we allow plants to repopulate areas where topsoil has been washed away…? The mattress springs provide sturdy frame for the plant ecologies to develop above the natural ground level while leaving the bottom open for the passage of water. Over time, a new layer of topsoil will build up whilst still maintaining the porous nature of the mattress.
The only waste from this process is the expanded foam between the top layer of fabric and the springs leaving only 20% to be recycled by conventional means.
The plant bed will allow for the recovery of decimated ecosystems and save the humble mattress from the landfill!
