Living with organic waste seems to be a natural thing and we can learn from nature that even in nature it is impossible to stop waste production. Precisely organic waste can be useful for ecosystem sustainability, for example the function of litter in the forest, litterfall that comes from plant remains can restore soil fertility.
At the end of the last millennium there was a man-made mini ecosystem called ecosphere. Ecosphere is the name of a glass ball the size of an adult’s head that is tightly closed, inside which contains sea water, a pair of shrimp, aquatic plants, algae, and decomposing bacteria. This ecosystem can last for years, although shrimp produce waste in the form of feces, flaky skin residue, and the results of metabolism in the form of carbon dioxide gas. On the other hand, aquatic plants and algae also produce waste from the remains of dead tissue and oxygen gas from photosynthesis.
Organic waste from these two different sources can maintain the sustainability of the ecosystem, each of which can be used efficiently and effectively by life in a closed system in a glass. Shrimp can eat algae that thrives and utilize the available oxygen. Meanwhile, aquatic plants and algae can absorb nutrients from shrimp waste and plant residues that are broken down by decomposing bacteria. This continuous ecosystem condition is known as a bioregenerative system which requires a dim supply of sunlight.
If in a mini closed ecosystem one can successfully live with organic waste, how about on a larger scale? The Biosphere 2 (Biosphere 1 is our blue planet earth) project in Arizona is a 1 hectare closed system with an artificial ecosystem (forest, savanna, farmland, desert, lake, and ocean) with 8 people living isolated. They can live with existing organic waste, but carbon dioxide production continues to increase and in this closed system the air temperature becomes too hot because of the greenhouse effect. The Biosphere 2 project was discontinued in 1993.
At the beginning of this millennium, Biosphere 2 changed its function to become object research on: The Effect of global warming and unpredictable weather on farming. Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO), long term evolution of non-living soil becomes rich soil involving microbial activity to support the plant life. Lunar Greenhouse to grow vegetables on the Moon and Mars. And Vertical Farming with LED lamps also producing zero farm runoff with no pests or pesticides.
If the idea of a bioregenerative ecosystem strategy fails in a closed system, it does not mean that an open or natural system will always succeed economically. Bioregenerative life-support systems depend on living systems for three basic human needs: food, oxygen, and water. It is a part of a self-renewing system that depends on the recycling of organic matter and involves close interactions between plants, animals, microorganisms, and human beings. Although this process is feasible and plausible, it may not be profitable.
The bioregenerative ecological strategy can fail because of too much profit orientation, lack of sense of professional business with soft funding grants, less concern to the young generation (long-term operation), and less of sacrificing for nature’s sustainability and healthy community.
This photo Biosphere 2 at the end of the pandemic in 2022 is courtesy of Christopher Michel.
-Bintoro Gunadi-
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