A recent citizen‑science study in Switzerland used an unusual test—burying organic cotton underwear—to measure how active and healthy local soils are, offering a low‑cost snapshot of ecosystem function. The findings, published in the journal Plants, People, Planet, matter now because soil condition affects food production, carbon cycles and local biodiversity at a time when land use and climate pressures are rising.
How the experiment was run
Nearly 1,000 volunteers across Switzerland participated, burying more than 2,000 pairs of organic cotton underwear at roughly 1,000 sites. Participants retrieved the garments after 30 and again after 60 days, photographed them, and sent both the samples and matching soil tests back to the research team.
The study paired the underwear test with a parallel measure using teabags, a method already used to approximate microbial activity in soil. Cotton fibers are largely made of cellulose, so how quickly they break down provides a visible proxy for the soil’s ability to decompose organic matter.
Key results
Decomposition varied by land use. Private gardens showed the highest breakdown rates, with about 58% of buried underwear decomposed after two months. Lawns lagged behind, with roughly 40% breakdown, and agricultural fields and meadows fell in between. The authors condensed these outcomes into an experimental metric they call the underwear index, intended to complement the established teabag index.
- Scale: ~1,000 volunteers; >2,000 underwear samples; retrieval at 30 and 60 days.
- Top result: Private gardens showed the most biological activity (≈58% after 60 days).
- Lower activity: Managed lawns showed slower decomposition (~40%).
- Crosscheck: Teabags were buried alongside underwear to provide a comparative benchmark.
Why the pace of decay matters
Faster decomposition generally signals a biologically active soil with a robust community of microbes and soil fauna. But the relationship isn’t strictly linear: overly rapid breakdown can indicate nutrient overload or other imbalances that may be harmful long term. In short, both slow and excessively fast rates carry distinct ecological implications.
For land managers and gardeners, a high score on the underwear index suggests lively microbial processing of organic input, while an unusually high rate might prompt investigation into fertilizer use, runoff, or other sources of excess nutrients.
Broader implications
The study highlights two practical points. First, simple, low‑cost tests can produce meaningful, place‑based data on soil function that complements lab analyses. Second, land use practices—how a plot is tended or left—show strong influence on microbial activity and nutrient cycling.
That has immediate consequences for urban planners, farmers and homeowners: managing soil for resilience matters for local food security, water quality and carbon storage. Citizen science approaches also make it possible to monitor changes over time at a scale that would be costly for researchers alone.
While the idea of burying underwear may elicit a smile, the experiment illustrates how unconventional, participatory methods can reveal actionable insights about the unseen life in our soils—and why keeping that life balanced is essential for ecosystems and people alike.
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Miles Harper focuses on optimizing your daily life. He shares practical strategies to improve your time management, well-being, and consumption habits, turning your routine into lasting success.