fabRIG
Team
Name: Marija Petrovska
Nationality: Macedonian
Institution / Company: University of Westminster
-FINALIST of Waterless World Competition
Cotton is a notorious material that has proven to be harmful to the environment, causing drought due to its excessive use of freshwater. However, instead of eliminating the product from the market, it can be improved by using its sustainable counterpart – organic cotton. Organic cotton uses 91% less water than conventional cotton, no pesticides, it relies solely on the healthiness of the soil, and research has proven that it can be grown in colder areas in greenhouses.
fabRIG explores the idea of growing cotton vertically in greenhouse units clad onto abandoned offshore oil rigs. The farms are self-sustaining units. Cotton requires a warm environment, so the greenhouse is clad with photovoltaic glazing in order to maintain a temperature of 24C°. Salty water from the sea is distributed onto solar stills located below the glass roof of the greenhouse, where it slowly evaporates, condenses, and trickles down into gutters that distribute the freshwater hydroponically to the cotton plants.
Could the oil rigs wasting away in the seas be the new land from which we exploit natural resources for our own use? But instead of harming the environment, we reinvent traditional farming methods into sustainable versions of themselves. Food for thought.
#WaterShortage #FreshwaterAvailability #OrganicCottonFarming #RainwaterIrrigation #SustainableFabrics
