In 1997, researchers of the University of Pennsylvania had a brilliant idea that would lead to a win-win between a big corporation and mother nature. They convinced Del Oro, a Costa Rican company producing orange juice, to donate part of their forest property to the neighboring national park "Área de Conservación Guanacaste". In exchange, the company will be authorized to dump its organic wastes into the park.
In a year, 12,000 metric tons of orange peels and pulp was dumped within the three hectares concerned by the study, before a lawsuit filled by Del Oro's competitors, arguing that they were putting the park to risk, put an end to the operations.
Because of that, the site was overlooked for over seventeen years, until a team of researchers from Princeton decided to come and measure the changes in the concerned area. The results were astonishing:
Where there was only rocks a decade earlier, the scientists had to climb roots and look for a paths between vines. To measure the changes, the scientists measured the vegetal variety and the diameter of the trees in the concerned area, as well as in a neighboring area that didn't receive the peels dumps.
The study showed dramatic improvement : its soil was richer, the tree population and diversity greater (by 176%) and the canopy closure tighter. Lots of our problems are linked to waste management, here is a proof that in some cases, waste don't even need to be wasted but can be used for the greater good!
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