Re: Bamboo and Chicago

Donna,
Short articles grab attention but don't give enough detail.
" bamboo absorbs pollutants and converts them into nutrients"
I'd want to know more.  It was my understanding that most plants used for
such projects are removed after taking up the toxins and replaced with more
to take up more. And how safe would the plants be for kids to be around?
I'd also want to know what kind of barriers would be used to halt escape.
Madake = Phyllostachys bambusoides
Moso = Phyllostachys pubescens

Kitty

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna" <justme@prairieinet.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 8:49 AM
Subject: [CHAT] 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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