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Biodegradation Study: Part Three
18 months ago we began an experiment with a 40-year-old (ish) Swanndri made from wool grown in New Zealand, that had done its dash. We wanted to see how long it would take to break down if we buried it.
Gus and Tara at The Wandle in Middlemarch kindly volunteered to help us, and so we embarked on our off-road adventure to the top of a hill on the farm, where we split the Swanni into 3 and buried each piece in the ground.
After 12 months we dug up the first part, seeing partial degradation and worm activity through the fabric. The plan for this latest dig after 18 months is to see how the degradation has progressed over the summer months.
As you can see the fabric has completely broken down and returned to the soil, thanks to hungry worms and millions of microbes, feeding on its natural fibres. It's also amazing to see the bright synthetic patch beside the broken-down wool, illustrating just how much longer it will take for any sign of breakdown on the synthetic patch used to repair this garment way back.
The team was stoked to see just how much of the garment has disappeared, it's a real-life demonstration of how durable New Zealand wool garments are, decades after you bought them, but then, how quickly then can return their nutrients to the soil where they were grown.
It's circularity in action.
Click here to find out more about our wool and the ZQRX programme
