schenker is an avid traditional grower with wild roots, but along with the other organization members, she will be pivoting toward an innovative form of gardening called hydroponics that wild roots is incorporating.

hydroponics is the technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil, according to the usda national agricultural library.

“it’s kind of like a constant flowing water system, and there’s no soil needed,” schenker said. “the plants are just growing out of the water.”

rachel silverman, a mccormick school of engineering second-year industrial engineering major, is the co-vice president of engineers without borders, a student organization using engineering to promote sustainability. their newest project is partnering with wild roots to build the hydroponic system.

silverman said hydroponic systems pump water directly to the roots of the plants, which is beneficial for the environment.

“due to soil degradation, we lose soil faster than we can make it, so having an alternative available when we can grow produce without soil is really essential,” silverman said. “second of all, it uses a lot less water than how you would normally grow plants because it doesn’t have to be saturated in the soil and water can be recycled through the system.”

hydroponic systems work circularly, with water pumping from the nutrient-filled water into the grow tray, and then cycling back to the solution tank where more nutrients are added. the nutrient-water solution is typically replaced every two to three weeks for an average-sized hydroponic structure, according to floraflex. an energy source is needed to provide light for the plants when grown indoors and to pump the water.

engineers without borders and wild roots are working out these technical details in an effort led by silverman and juliana gonzalez, a mccormick second-year majoring in manufacturing and design engineering. silverman said she and gonzalez weren’t familiar with gardening alternatives like hydroponics before wild roots reached out, but when the organizations connected, engineers without borders researched the system and decided to take on the project.

“i think you learn a lot more through doing. joining this club has taught me a lot more about the different solutions that exist,” silverman said. “[i am] just getting a better grasp of the situation with the environment and the ways we can help.”

once engineers without borders agreed to collaborate with wild roots, they put together a rough design and worked through logistics with wild roots advisor corbin smyth. their final sketch is a 6-feet long and 4-feet wide structure with plants growing in horizontal rows above a water basin. while many hydroponic structures feature lights above the plants for controlled growth, this system will not need them because it will receive natural light outdoors. 

gonzalez said the biggest barrier they faced was getting their materials approved. engineers without borders sent their material proposal to the northwestern student organization finance office (sofo) to order before spring break, she said. sofo officials asked the students to restructure their plans solely with materials from vendors approved on ibuynu, a web-based ordering platform providing organizations with streamlined purchasing options.

“they ended up sending us the materials [list] back, and then we redid the materials and sent it back to our advisor, who sent it to sofo,” gonzalez said. “the whole process took a really long time. it was very frustrating, honestly.” but the process and patience paid off.

gonzalez said the students decided to exclusively choose items from home depot when rebuilding their materials list because the store is approved on the sofo platform. while engineers without borders initially planned to unveil the structure in late may of 2024, gonzalez said they are postponing the project launch until the coming academic year due to the delays. she said that even with delays, she thinks a hydroponic system will be meaningful enough for the university that the students are sticking with the plan.

the hydroponic system will bring awareness about water consumption and waste on campus, gonzalez said. she added that sustainability is a large part of the world now, and integrating it into engineering projects is very interesting to her.

eric weber, director of operations at plant chicago, embraces and builds upon the sustainable aspects of hydroponics, they said. plant chicago, on chicago’s south side, adopted hydroponic and aquaponic urban gardens in 2011 when the organization launched. their first systems were located at the plant, a former meat processing warehouse welcoming a collaborative community of small food businesses, according to the plant website. plant chicago relocated their hydroponic and aquaponic structures to their current space a few blocks away in 2020, said weber.

hydroponics is one component of an aquaponics system, which pumps naturally fertilized water from fish tanks to plants growing in water, then redirects the plant-purified water back to the fish tanks, according to nelson + pade. fish waste fertilizes the water and special bacteria in the water breaks down the ammonia in the waste that would be harmful to plants.

weber walked us through plant chicago’s indoor space, which boasts several hydroponic and aquaponic towers of various sizes. in the aquaponic structure, fish swim lazily on the lowest level and a series of pipes lead up to neat rows of plants growing in the water. weber said the main benefit of aquaponics over hydroponics is that it grows fish in addition to plants.

“you get the ability to have a potential protein source that you can harvest and eat in addition to your veggies,” weber said. “you treat the system as its own living organism; you’ve got fish, you’ve got plants, you’re trying to keep them living in harmony with each other.”

the nutrient source in a hydroponic system differs significantly from that of an aquaponic system, weber said. in a solely hydroponic structure, the plants rely on a synthetic fertilizer rather than organically processed fish waste. according to weber, this ties into one of the main criticisms of hydroponic growth.

critics of hydroponic growth don’t see hydroponics as organic and instead prefer more natural methods, said weber. while the u.s. department of agriculture (usda) makes no mention of soil growth in their definition of organic, the usda does specify that “the basic rule for organic agriculture is to allow natural substances and prohibit synthetic,” according to the website’s organic 101 subsection. if hydroponic and aquaponic systems do not use synthetic fertilizers, the usda recognizes them as eligible for organic certification.

but, according to the real organic project, a defining characteristic of organic produce is growth in soil. weber acknowledged that for both hydroponic and aquaponic growth, the plants grow in a controlled environment rather than letting nature take its course.

“you’re trying to control as many parameters of the environment as possible, so the amount of light, temperature, humidity, airflow, oxygen, co2…” weber said. “all that requires technology in some form, which tends to be fairly expensive, and electricity. depending on your electricity source or part of the world, it can vary in its environmental impact and cost.”

weber said the “gut check” for these technology-based growth methods is properly weighing cost and energy use against the systems’ benefits. they said some gardeners can build a small in-home hydroponic system for a couple hundred dollars, but the systems can cost upwards of $10,000 depending on size customizations and energy needs. some structures rely primarily on renewable energy sources, such as the systems at plant chicago, which operate from a 16-kilowatt solar array on the roof installed over a year ago, according to weber. however, others can rack up energy from non-renewable sources such as coal or natural gas, they said.

opposing organizations such as the real organic project look at the potential cost- and energy-related negatives of hydroponic growth and rule it out as a sustainable option. weber takes a more holistic approach. they said multiple factors should be considered when implementing hydroponics, such as which crops thrive naturally in that geographical area, which financial resources are available, and whether renewable energy is easily accessible. hydroponics also recycles water in a world where drought is spreading due to climate change.

“just as easy as it is to say, ‘oh, hydroponics is going to save us from world hunger,’ those broad strokes could be used to say, ‘oh no, this is terrible, it’s a huge waste of space and time and money and electricity,’” weber said. “i don’t think either of those are right.”

to exemplify their point, weber said they would never set up huge greenhouses in florida to grow trees inside because the climate is ideal for growing them naturally outdoors. however, they may consider growing leaf lettuce in nevada using indoor hydroponics. the state’s desert climate means far more water would be required to irrigate fields than it would be to grow plants in a nutrient-based water solution. they said in that case, the overall water loss is significantly less, which is a clear benefit to growing crops in a desert environment.

kellye fleming, branch assistant at the evanston public library’s robert crown branch, said hydroponics may not always be sustainable, but offers a great resource nonetheless. she implemented a rental program for hydroponics systems at her branch two years ago, where patrons can rent out small structures for 11 weeks at a time for free.

hydroponic growing is great for people such as fleming who live in apartments and don’t have much access to greenspace, she said. she added that soil can contain lead or other heavy metals in urban areas, making it impossible to grow healthy crops. indoor hydroponic growth makes fresh produce more accessible in that circumstance and for growing greens and herbs off-season. flemings said she doesn’t rule out the benefits of hydroponics simply because it’s not considered organic.

“if you are sustainability growing items, does it matter if it’s organic?” fleming said. “as long as people are growing, it’s great.”

schenker also frowns upon black-and-white criticism of hydroponic systems. to her, everything has a positive and negative, she said, and giving people more options for plant growth in different situations is a move in the right direction.

“i’m not saying that we should completely move toward hydroponics — i think that would be unsustainable,” schenker said. “but when it comes to how little access to good, clean food people have nowadays, a diverse amount of solutions to implement is great.”

the hydroponic system created by engineers without borders and wild roots will tentatively be placed outside norris university center in 2025.

silverman said the system will feature a qr code with information about hydroponics so students can learn more about why this structure was built. she thinks the project will spark interest in the environment on campus, she said.

“i hope it draws curiosity toward sustainability-focused tools,” silverman said. “i want it to open the conversation about other ways we can be more environmentally conscious.”

this article was originally published in north by northwestern.

one alternative form of agriculture that is much more sustainable for urban environments is hydroponics. hydroponic agriculture involves growing plants in nutrient-rich water that can be recycled, all with minimal use of soil. at the university of wisconsin – madison a new student organization, free salad, is working to not only create hydroponic systems on campus but also to educate students and get them involved with sustainable agriculture. increasing knowledge and awareness on campus and within the community about the problems and potential solutions within the agriculture industry can lead to a brighter future for not only for ourselves but for the planet as a whole.

lovingly known to locals as jackson hole, the town is home to just over 10,000 hardy people who are willing to endure the area’s rough terrain, volatile mountain climate and other challenges—all of which create problems for feeding its residents and tourists year-round.

that’s where jackson hole vertical harvest comes in: it’s a small vertical farm that is the town’s only consistent source of food.

as an outdoor lover’s dream, tourists from around the world flock to jackson throughout the year to ski on world-class snow, climb the surrounding peaks, raft the snake river, and visit neighboring grand teton and yellowstone national parks. however, many of the area’s allures also act as a double-edged sword:

the scenic mountains? they drive up land prices, limiting the area in the valley usable for building a home. this has become such a problem that the median price for a single-family home in the area has reached a staggering $2.65 million, as estimated in a 2017 report by the casper star tribune.

its blankets of snow? they may be soft enough for a skier to fall in love with, but the unpredictable weather can make travel in and out of jackson difficult — and sometimes impossible.

beyond this, temperate summers have been a major draw for tourists in the area, but this also means that the area’s growing season is a mere four months long.

these factors make the feasibility of large, traditional farms in and around jackson nearly impossible, making locally sourced, organic produce completely absent from residents’ kitchens.

without healthy, fresh produce, jackson local nona yehia decided to make a change for her community by founding jackson hole vertical harvest in 2016. using a vertical form of architecture, jh vertical harvest has transformed a tenth of an acre on the southern side of jackson’s only parking garage into a 13,500 arable square foot garden.

the farm operates using hydroponic agriculture: a form of agriculture that does not use soil, but instead stimulates plant growth via nutrients in a water solution, yielding roughly 100,000 pounds of food over the course of an entire year.

the unique architecture paired with hydroponic agriculture makes fruits and vegetables readily available year-round, which are then distributed to local restaurants, markets, direct to consumers, and even the hospital in town. the university of wyoming is currently testing the farm’s lighting and water efficiency to analyze its carbon footprint, with preliminary tests indicating significantly lower emissions than industrial farming.

beyond the farming techniques and environmental data, jh vertical harvest partnered with cultivate, a nonprofit focused on job placement for people with different abilities, in order to serve the jackson community in a different way: among its staff are more than 20 individuals with varying mental and physical abilities and 18 more people in training.

“jh vertical harvest is not a company focused on food,” said joelle lazzareschi, cultivate’s employment and training director. “the company gives equal weight to the importance of local food production and social impact.”

when asked about the future of jh vertical harvest and their business model, lazzareschi laughed, saying,“we are one step closer to world domination in lancaster, pennsylvania.”

after residents of lancaster reached out to jh vertical harvest for help in building a vertical farm in their own community, they proved that they have “the land, capital, social capacity, and drive to make our model a reality,” lazzareschi said. “we are excited for the opportunity, no matter where it might be.”

meet free salad

free salad is one small part of this growth. they are a recently formed student organization at the university of wisconsin-madison dedicated to embracing and spreading the hydroponics movement. lucas peterson, the organization’s co-founder, shared his dream of a hydroponics-driven future: “every home could have the technology and knowhow to sustainably grow some of its own food supply.”

hydroponics 101

for those uninitiated, hydroponics is an alternative method of agricultural production that doesn’t rely on soil, and can be done in confined spaces indoors. hydroponics systems facilitate plant growth through a constant flow of nutrient-infused water. plants are commonly suspended in a trough with their roots reaching down into the water flow, gathering as many nutrients as needed. meanwhile, natural sunlight is replaced by led lighting.

the water flow system is what makes a hydroponics project so efficient and effective when compared to traditional soil farming. chief among its benefits is the constant recycling of the nutrient water throughout the system. because of this, farming with hydroponics results in 99% less water use than its soil counterpart. additionally, there’s no fertilizer runoff, representing a tangible improvement over soil farming in regards to the health of waterways.

the increased efficiency of hydroponics farms also leads to considerably higher crop yields and faster growing rates. these benefits, coupled with a decreased spatial requirement compared to soil farming make smaller-scale hydroponics systems ideal for urban agriculture, peterson explained. he continued, “this is sustainable everywhere, and the range of crops you can grow is almost limitless.”

growing a movement

“hydroponics is much more accessible today than the average person realizes.”

peterson and his two co-founders, in collaboration with roughly a dozen other students, are working to spread awareness of hydroponics’ potential through a variety of community education and outreach projects, as well as the development of their own on-campus hydroponics farm. tucked away in a storage area of a campus-associated building, free salad builds, tests and modifies a range of hydroponics systems.

after only two months of development, the current efficiency and size of free salad’s farm is only a fraction of the group’s long term goals, but the results are already tangible. using only donated supplies and a little diy construction, the team has created a functioning farm, and is growing real produce.

free salad will soon begin construction on a second story in their tower garden setup. this style, referred to as vertical farming, capitalizes on the small footprint of hydroponics systems, maximizing the growing potential of limited spaces. once completed, the addition will double the system’s total yield.

“hydroponics is much more accessible today than the average person realizes,” peterson said. he estimated the total cost of the tower garden pictured at roughly $100, including the water pump at the heart of the fixture.

as a part of their community outreach plan, free salad will be distributing tomato plant seedlings in miniaturized hydroponics systems at a community event. peterson and the rest of the group believe that direct public exposure like this will achieve two of their primary goals: broadly increasing awareness of hydroponics itself, and increasing food access. free salad also has plans to work with local schools, introducing hydroponics systems into classrooms and educating younger students about its applications in agriculture.

addressing hunger & nutrition

free salad’s education and outreach efforts come at a critical time, with dane county’s department of public health reporting that 11.8% of people, and 17.5% of children in the county face food insecurity. peterson and others share the belief that hydroponics seems poised to be an answer, or at the very least a part of the solution to pervasive issues like food deserts and insecurity.

the u.s. department of agriculture defines food deserts as areas that lack access to affordable foods that make up a full and healthy diet. this issue disproportionately affects low-income and minority areas where grocery stores are replaced with fast food and convenience stores offering only primarily sugar-filled, processed foods.

hydroponics seems poised to be an answer, or at the very least a part of the solution to pervasive issues like food deserts and insecurity.

while also affecting rural areas, food deserts are especially troublesome in urban areas, where population density is greater. free salad is looking to raise awareness and contribute to the eradication of the more than five local food deserts in the greater madison area.

this issue is not unique to madison either, affecting 23.5 million americans in total as of 2010, many of them residing in urban areas like chicago, new orleans, san francisco, atlanta, and other populous urban areas, according to the usda.

what’s standing in the way?

hydroponics is not without its obstacles and drawbacks. peterson was frank that the future of the technology is highly dependent on a widespread shift to renewable energy sources. the energy costs for large scale growth can be enormous, especially for certain crops like corn and tomatoes. this makes hydroponics operations difficult to scale, and renders their environmental benefit questionable in areas without access to renewable energy.

“the biggest barrier to hydroponics being mainstream is a lack of public awareness,” peterson said. this is why he believes so strongly in the work that free salad, and other groups like it, are doing. growing the hydroponics movement, inspiring others to embrace the technology and help its spread, this is the ultimate goal of free salad, peterson explained.

despite these challenges, peterson is unwavering in his dream of hydroponics’ future: everyday people approaching their local administration for change, creating their own organizations to continue learning, or simply experimenting with growing. he believes that with efforts like free salad’s around the country and globe an inflection point could occur, and a widespread embrace of local foods and sustainable, accessible eating could be on the horizon.

— oswin chackochan and hannah abell

this system is built right in the greenhouse attached to the side of the marine and natural sciences building on roger williams’ campus. this group of talented engineers have designed and built this system that will not only feed the fish, but use no additional water.

its this method of growing food that will sustain the campus community. this ebb and flow system can flood the tray that contains the soil and plants to water them. the excess water drains back into the fish tank, where the freshwater fish will feed off of the nutrient runoff from the plants. that water then goes through a series of filters before flooding the tray, and starting all over again.

the group engineers without borders hopes to travel to developing countries to teach them this way of farming. weather conditions, soil conditions and droughts are no problem for this system. nestled in a greenhouse for temperature control and protection, plants can grow and sustain themselves.

the club is working on getting a solar panel so that there is zero outside energy used to power the pumps circulating the water. they grow plants that are local to rhode island and they sell to local farmers markets and to the dining hall on the very campus they grow on.

with the world’s population taking over farming land, and having all those mouths to feed, hydroponics is the most efficient way to feed all those hungry people. this takes up virtually no floor space and there are companies that are now converting storage containers into full fledged farms.

this is an innovative way to continue to feed the world’s population now, and 50 years from now.

what sets her crops apart? well, for one they are grown year round in “a controlled agriculture environment.” this means while other local farmers in loudon county, virginia are unable to grow, the lettuce lady still provides her products to top washington, dc restaurants and chefs and local customers.

taylor told us she got the idea from a visit to disney world’s hydroponic gardens. “i never thought i’d go into farming, but i have found it, just right now, the place to be,” the californian raised taylor said.

“this is smart farming.”

– mary ellen taylor, aka the lettuce lady

endless summer harvest grows 4,000 plants a week using just 12,000 ft.2 of greenhouse space. that is the “equivalent of 12 acres of traditional farmland,” she said.

her hydroponic farm uses no soil and she is able to recycle 90% of the water used back through her well into the mixing tanks that produce the solution used to grow her crops.

endless summer harvest’s controlled environment hydroponics system could provide a way for farmers in climates unsuitable for growing crops to provide food for a growing planet.

visitors from around the world, especially in developing nations including afghanistan and botswana have visited her farm seeing it as a model for future use in their less irrigable home regions.

the lettuce lady hopes to double the amount of greenhouses at endless summer harvest from two to four within a year.

is this the future of farming?

how it’s done:
vertical agricultural systems, or tiered greenhouses atop city residential buildings, produce plants and possibly food using waste water from the same residential systems, or partially-filtered water from the treatment plant. using hydroponics, or water-only, soilless agricultural techniques, the plants grown here will receive nutrients through organic waste found in the untreated water. the plants will simultaneously filter the water of pollutants through the process of hydroponics.

the remaining water travels at high speeds down pips into the city pipe systems that lead to treatment facilities. on its way down, the pipe’s bore will be condensed in order to increase the pressure of the flow of water. additionally, the pipe will be fitted with a small turbine. nothing that will power the entire city, but a small generator to be used in conjunction with the residential buildings’ power needs. multiple hydroponic-hydroelectric treatment facilities operating on a number of residential buildings would reduce a substantial amount of wasted energy, produce and water previously unchecked by these buildings.

although radical in design, this approach may offer a solution to our ever-increasing amount of waste issues. the water filtered through hydroponic practice could reduce the energy required to filter untreated water at water treatment facilities. in order to ensure maximum energy efficiency, the technique presented calls for sustainable electricity production to be carried out in the process of it all. finally, an increase in locally-grown foods provides a more sustainable market in which local consumers will see more competitive prices for sustainably-grown local foods.

as always, government spending and individual investment in such projects is a concern. in order to ease the economic burden upon building owners and landlords, these projects could receive a government subsidy or even provide a tax deduction. economic incentives are crucial when it comes to implementing any form of change to an economically or lifestyle-sensitive community. in addition, the energy produced by such installations may be used to reduce energy bills of the residence. with the money they save, they will most likely stimulate some other sector of the economy, encouraging further economic development in their community and their country.