Bamboo and Chicago

With the recent discussions, thought some might be interested in seeing this article below. 

Somehow this disturbs me... I can see it taking over the city, and then on to the world....

Donna
who is way behind in e-mail....

---snip---

Researchers Find Bamboo 'Cleans' Urban Soil

CHICAGO (UPI) -- Three graduate students at the University of Illinois
at Chicago may have found a solution to the widespread problem of
contaminated urban soil. Their solution, submitted as an entry in last
week's Chicago Sustainable Design Initiative competition, entails
growing bamboo on polluted lots, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The
students claim their solution to so-called brown fields beats the usual
"dig and haul" method that deposits the contaminated soil in a landfill.
Instead, bamboo absorbs pollutants and converts them into nutrients.


Daniel Butt, Kevin Anderson and Abraham Madrigal, all master's degree
candidates, found two kinds of bamboo plants, Moso and Madake, that can
survive 15-below-zero winters. Seeds and small plants are available from
growers in Ohio and on the West Coast. "We can use the seed from our
initial crop to increase the supply and achieve economies of scale,"
Butt said. Up to 8 feet tall and green, bamboo farms could change the
look of Chicago's vacant lots. "Planted in between houses, it would
serve as a windbreak, reducing energy costs," Butt said. "It's like
planting trees around a home."


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