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JIM TEDDER: Growing crops in containers is good for the environment. In addition to using less water, little fertilizer is needed, and it all stays in the box. There is no way the chemicals can run off into nearby waterways. The same potting mix can be used for five or six years. In countries where potting mix is not available or too costly, growers can use coconut coir instead. This comes from the outside shell of the coconut and it is low in cost.

Coconut coir is also a renewable resource. Each new coconut that grows will provide some coir. The peat moss that is used in many potting mixes, however, can take thousands of years to grow. Gardeners can use up peat moss much faster than it can be replaced by nature.

Since the Earthbox went on sale in nineteen ninety-four, many people around the world have used them. Other people have made their own vegetable growing boxes. Some use two large plastic containers to make what is known as a "Global Bucket." One bucket has holes in the bottom and sits inside the other bucket. Potting mix or coir goes into the top bucket, and water goes through a tube into the bottom bucket. A plastic trash bag is then used to cover the top container.

Many kinds of fruits and vegetables can be grown in containers like these. Some people think this kind of gardening will be important for people in poor countries where hunger is a problem. A lot of food can be grown in a small space for a small amount of money.

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JIM TEDDER: The people who make Earthboxes are interested in educating young people. They have developed a program aimed at teaching science and agriculture to students from their prekindergarten years through high school. Using an Earthbox in the classroom, the youngest child learns about seeds, the parts of plants, how gravity affects plants, and the uses of sunflowers.

When children first enter elementary school, they learn about water, soil, light, and nutrition. In middle school, they do experiments and collect information. In high school, the students learn how to use mathematics and graphs to better understand what happens when plants grow. The learning program includes written materials for the teachers and students. And it uses an Earthbox in the classroom as a small laboratory for experiments.

Molly Philbin is the Education and Community Garden director for the Earthbox Company.

MOLLY PHILBIN: "Kids really get engaged in science in the garden where it's a kind of fun activity where they're collecting data and seeing how different temperatures will change the amount of water that's needed by a crop, so the science concepts come easily."

JIM TEDDER: Ms. Philbin also says that growing food locally in a container helps lower pollution from burning fossil fuels like oil.

Often food travels thousands of kilometers from the farm before it reaches the table at home. A lot of fuel is needed just to deliver the food. Farmers who use growing boxes do not have to plow the land before they plant本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。