I had the pleasure of speaking with Betsy Kettle of Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste (HCZW) recently about her organisation's work in the community. 

While sharing her organisation's story, she discussed how her work developed.

In 2013, she came to learn of something called ‘Terra Prata’, or ‘Amazonian Dark Earth’. 

Terra Prata is believed to be a combination of organic waste and biochar (a form of charcoal). 

She says this was a revolutionary discovery, comparing it to Roman concrete.

“Terra Prata has to be grown… the value of the soil lies in that it’s alive.”

The entire process is holistic, and each part can’t be excluded. 

“The people that used to make it are all gone, yet the soil remains.”

“If you’re a soil scientist, you’ll know how unusual this is because the plants usually take up all the nutrients… and [over time] it disappears.” 

If research could be used to figure out how to create Terra Prata, it would solve many problems the world faces.

Not only would this reduce the damage to the climate, but many constraints to agriculture and food production would be resolved. 

Since learning of Terra Prata, Betsy has moved to incorporate it into the content Hibiscus Coast Zero Waste teaches within the community. 

“The intermediate schools are researching for us, particularly Murrays Bay intermediate… They’ve built carbon-sinking bins and a tracking system… to monitor changes in the soil.”

HCZW serves to educate students and involve them actively in the process of climate-friendly living.