78 results for tag: rock dust

Pioneer Spotlight: Acknowledging the contributions of sustainable agriculture consultant Steve Diver

Long-time agriculture and horticulture specialist Steve Diver has been an active proponent of the remineralization movement for many years. His scholastic training focused on the areas of horticulture, botany, plant physiology, and soil science, and in the years since, he has become a sought-after expert in those areas of study and the agriculture industry as a whole. Diver has spent his career thus far working in various agricultural capacities, including an 18-year stint with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) as a specialist with the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA). With ATTRA, Diver particip...

Documenting Reasons for Optimism: Mitigating Climate Change through Soil Restoration

It is important to document reasons for optimism, focusing on the future we want to achieve. Several trends, in particular trends regarding soil regeneration, support optimism about the environment. We need to build upon these positive trends, while resisting the negative ones. For years while I was in Geneva, Switzerland, I published and edited the Worldwatch Institute’s World Watch magazine and annual State of the World report. Worldwatch was founded by Lester Brown, who also founded the Earth Policy Institute, and it has done a remarkable job monitoring the environmental crisis and promoting solutions to it. It promoted ...

Blending Biochar with Rockdust: High-efficiency Mineral Delivery

Seedlings grown in soil treated with rock dust. 4 trays on left are commercial rock dust products; 3 on right are potential midwest region resources.   David Yarrow emphasizes that carbon is only one element in soil, and that the priority for our planet is soil regeneration through stewardship of diverse living communities and cultures. The very actions essential to put carbon, minerals, and microbes back in soils may restore authentic community to human society, wealth to community economies, health to human bodies, and true culture to our relations with the Earth as Gaia, a unified living intelligence.   Foundation fertility Rock ...

High School Project with Aji Peppers Show Increased Growth with Rock Dust and Compost

In our previous article “Students Gain Hands-On Experience with Remineralization at Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School,” RTE reported on a remineralization experiment carried out in part by high school students. Aji peppers were planted to test the effect of rock dust on plant growth. Now, the results of the experiment are in.   Background In 2014, Remineralize the Earth (RTE) received a grant of $5000 from the Judith Haskell Brewer Fund of the Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia to coordinate several local projects and create a resilient remineralization network in the Pioneer Valley. These initiatives ...

Rochagem Congress Part 2: Professor Suzi Huff Theodoro on the Importance of Promoting Remineralization

Professor Suzi Huff Theodoro speaking at the III Brazilian Rochagem Congress.   V. Miranda Chase, the director of RTE’s online research database, gave a presentation and represented us at the III Brazilian Rochagem Congress. You can read more about the conference in our previous article.    The III Brazilian Rochagem Congress took place in November 2016 at the Embrapa Temperate Climate Research Center in Pelotas in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The conference explored new technological developments in remineralization and identified channels for institutional partnerships between government sectors, academia, and the private ...

Craving Minerals, Eating Rocks: Why do animals and humans eat rock dust?

Last October the Los Angeles Times released an article about research on tool-use among the wild bearded capuchin monkeys of Brazil. The article showcased two short videos of the monkeys smashing rocks against larger boulders – which was interpreted as intentional tool-making behavior. With a closer look, another strange behavior emerged. The monkeys occasionally licked the rocks in their paws. Several hypotheses were proposed to explain this behavior: the monkeys were licking off the minerals in the rock dust collected on the surface of the rocks; they were consuming lichen with antimicrobial properties; or, they were simply consuming ...

Spotlight on Agrogeologist Peter Van Straaten, PhD

At the II Brazilian “Rochagem” Conference, which took place in Poco de Caldas, Minas Gerais, in May 2013, Professor Peter van Straaten gave a series of talks on the use of rock dust to increase soil health for agriculture. As a pioneer in the practice of using rocks for soil remineralization, van Straaten shared his extensive knowledge with a broad spectrum of scientists and researchers who attended the conference. An expert in agrogeology, which Van Straaten defines as “geology in service of agriculture,” he has built an international network of projects that study remineralization and sustainable agriculture in Africa. His work has helped ...

Highlights from the 2013 II Brazilian “Rochagem” Conference

From May 12-17, 2013 the Second Brazilian “Rochagem” Conference convened an impressive assembly of scientists, researchers and technicians from Brazil and around the world. Joanna Campe, Executive Director of Remineralize the Earth, was invited to speak at the conference and was given the honor of presenting second on the opening day of the event. Joanna's presentation entitled “The Potential of Remineralization as a Global Movement” covered the historical context and current developments relating to ecological and social challenges that are being faced regionally and globally. Joanna helped open the conference to the long list of detailed ...

From the Canadian Arctic to the Niger Delta: Finely Ground Rock Dust to Bioremediate Oil Spills in Waterways and Farmlands

Environmental chemist Ugo Amadioha, a native Nigerian, born and raised in the Etekwuru-Egbema Kingdom in Imo State, Nigeria, recently expressed interest to Joanna Campe of Remineralize the Earth about creating a project that will adopt remineralization as a means to bioremediate degraded farmlands in the Niger Delta. He is currently Senior Chemist with Chemtech Consulting Group in New Jersey, USA and is seeking partnerships and funding for such a project. (more…)

Growing Movement of Remineralization and Agroecology in Brazil

Edinei Almeida is an agroecologist and PhD student currently working to bring awareness and understanding of agroecology to small family farms in rural Brazil. As part of the Brazilian NGO, AS-PTA (Assessoria e Serviços a Projetos em Agricultura Alternativa), whose mission is to promote ecological methods of agriculture that question conventional industrial practices, Edinei works with 500 family farms in Southern Brazil to show the benefits of adding rock dust to soil. Suzi Huff Theodoro, PhD, one of the main organizers of the 2nd Brazilian “Rochagem” Conference, described Edinei as one of the foremost agroecologists in Brazil and Joanna Campe ...