Study finds underwear decomposes fastest in gardens, slowest on lawns

A pair of cotton underwear may seem an unlikely tool for measuring soil health, but scientists and farmers are using the unusual experiment to understand what lies beneath the ground. From a Canadian farmer who discovered changes in his soil over a decade to a Swiss research project involving more than 1,000 volunteers, the “Soil Your Undies” initiative is drawing attention to the importance of healthy, biologically active soil.Norm Lamothe and his family operate a 500-acre farm outside Peterborough, Ontario, in Canada.