Environmental Leadership

EARTH is engaged in an ongoing effort to develop new techniques to increase quality, profitability, and worker well-being while reducing negative environmental impact. Over the past 15 years, EARTH has developed environmental management techniques that have become industry standards worldwide and the university continues to innovate. What follows is a representative sample of environmental practices in place at EARTH’s banana farm.

Solid Waste Management

Recycling – EARTH pioneered the recycling of the plastic bags that protect fruit from insects and sunburn while growing in the fields. These bags are often infused with insecticides and were frequently discarded in the fields where the bags and the chemicals on them would end up contaminating land and local water supplies. EARTH began to recycle the bags (as well as the nylon cords used to prop up banana plants during production) despite negative reaction from the wider banana industry. Today, recycling, or at least appropriate disposal of the bags and cords, is industry standard.

Organic Waste Management

Natural Fiber Paper – In 1991, EARTH began making paper from banana stems (or pinzotes, in Spanish), the baseball-bat sized backbones of individual banana bunches. Pinzotes are the largest source of organic waste from commercial banana production and proper disposal of the stems continues to present a serious environmental challenge in banana producing regions.

EARTH developed the paper project to create a means of recycling this waste material into a valuable new product. The paper plant currently recycles all recyclable paper from the university and approximately 50% of the stems from the banana plantation into a variety of paper products including EARTH University business cards, letterhead, and envelops.

Bokashi – EARTH recycles organic waste from the banana farm and from university operations into bokashi, a type of compost made from organic waste, sawdust, and effective microorganisms (EM). The bokashi is then applied in the fields to enhance effects of and reduce the need for traditional fertilizers.

Reduced Use of Chemicals

Elimination of Herbicides – After more than a year of tests and research, EARTH was recently able to eliminate all use of herbicides on the banana farm without sacrificing yield. This represents a major reduction in the use of chemicals on the farm. Manual weed control is more expensive than chemical control, but the practice will improve the quality and quantity of soil on the farm.

Organic Bags in the Fields – Two years ago EARTH eliminated the highly toxic chloropyrophos from the plastic bags it uses to cover the fruit in the fields. In January 2007, EARTH converted to use of organic bags on 50% of the farm. The organic bags are treated with pepper and garlic instead of a mixture of chemicals to repel insects. By early 2008, EARTH plans be using organic bags on 100% of the farm.

Organic Post Harvest Treatment – When bananas are cut from the stem, the crown that holds a hand of bananas together is a raw wound on the fruit and is exposed to attack by fungi and insects. All banana farms apply a fungicide to protect the fruit after cutting during the long ride to the market. An EARTH professor developed an organic formula which EARTH uses on all bananas for Whole Foods Market. This organic mixture removes another chemical from the packing house and production process.

Conservation of Ecosystems

Native Species – EARTH plants native species in drainage ditches on the banana farm. The practice helps trap accidental spray drift, reduces erosion, and enhances biodiversity in the area by attracting amphibians, reptiles, and birds.

Habitat Protection – EARTH’s campus and banana farm are surrounded by EARTH’s 2,471 acre forest and biological preserve. EARTH’s banana operation is commited to protecting water supplies and endangered species and habitats through conservation and maintenance of buffer zones.