Lavender farming may save the desolated mining sites on mountaintops which are left stripped of life and any potential use. The evergreen shrub, which is used industrially for its aromatic fragrance, seems like the only form of life that can survive the barren rocky terrain left behind by mountaintop removal mining. A start-up has taken notice of this so it began farming the plant in the defunct mines of the Appalachian Mountains. In West Virginia alone, there are around 330,000 acres of this type of wasteland and each acre could generate around $10,000, making it a potential $3.3 billion industry.
Lavender could bring desolated mining sites back to life
More of Today's Solutions
Comeback: Wild bison set to return to UK for first time in 6,000 years
The steppe bison is thought to have roamed the UK until about 6,000 years ago when hunting and changes in habitat led to its ...
Read MoreFrom waste to wellness: Making painkillers more sustainable
Paracetamol and ibuprofen, the world's most popular pain relievers, have long relied on ingredients obtained from crude oil in their production. However, as society ...
Read MoreEmpowering women in the electrical industry— A labor and wage gap solution
The demand for trained electricians has reached critical levels as the United States strives to shift away from fossil fuels and toward sustainable energy ...
Read MoreNew antibiotic pill shows promise against drug-resistant gonorrhea
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted infection, has become an increasingly urgent public health concern due to its growing ...
Read More
