Beweisstück Unterhose

What Underpants Have to Do with Soil Quality

Have you ever wondered how underpants can improve the quality of your vegetable garden or wheat field?

The Citizen Science project 'Beweisstück Unterhose', which was initiated and conducted in collaboration with Agroscope, the University of Zurich and Atland Bieri, pursues this unusual yet scientifically sound idea. Participants from all over Switzerland — ranging from farmers and winemakers to forest owners and hobby gardeners — bury cotton underpants in their soil to measure biodiversity.

The theory is that healthy soil is characterised by diverse and active soil organisms, which lead to better yields. These organisms consume the cotton of the underpants; the less that remains, the healthier and more biodiverse the soil.

This project presents a simple yet effective method of assessing soil health. By combining a humorous, participatory approach with serious research, the project gained media attention worldwide.

Practical Method for Measuring Soil Quality

'Beweisstück Unterhose' is an innovative way of bringing citizens together with science to measure soil health and gain an understanding of the state of Swiss soils. Participants can directly observe how soil organisms decompose cotton underpants buried in gardens and fields, which is a clear indicator of soil health. This method provides farmers and garden owners with a practical way to independently verify the quality of their soil. At the same time, the project raises public awareness of the importance of healthy soils and the biodiversity that is often overlooked.

More Awareness for Healthy Soils

We discovered an enormous variety of soil organisms, including over 18,900 species of bacteria and 6,500 different fungi. Furthermore, the project demonstrated that the higher the humus content of the soil, the faster the underpants decomposed. This is because the more organic material the soil contains, the more food there is for the millions of soil organisms, making them hungrier and more active.

The results of the 'Evidence Underpants' project now provide valuable insights into soil quality at various locations throughout Switzerland. These findings are being incorporated into various scientific publications. Ultimately, the project aims to raise awareness of the critical role that healthy soils play in our ecosystem, and to establish practical methods for preserving and improving them.

In the Media:

• Watson: "Warum Tausend Schweizer Hobby -Forschende eine Unterhose im Garten vergraben"
• SRF Kinder News: "Das lustige Experiment «Beweisstück Unterhose»"
• The Times: "Swiss bury their pants to help plants"

Client: A project by Agroscope and the University of Zurich, co-initiated by catta and Atlant Bieri

Financial Partners: Stiftung Mercator Schweiz, Swiss National Science Foundation, Ernst Göhner Foundation, Partizipativen Wissenschaftsakademie.

Our Role: Co-initiation and development, fundraising, citizen science coordination, establishment of the web platform, editorial work, support for public relations, social media, and community management