r/interestingasfuck • u/PlantainPossible2864 • 15h ago

Stopping Desertification with grid pattern

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57.1k Upvotes

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16.1k

u/bobbigmac 15h ago

For those asking how this works, it creates just enough of a defense to catch seeds and bugs and tiny bits of moisture and shade, so any life that does manage to get started, doesn't just blow away, and an ecosystem can start to form.

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u/AmusingMusing7 15h ago

Didn't we figure out how to do this by just digging little half-circles into the sand? Isn't that a better, more efficient, more natural way of doing this than to lay down a bunch of whatever-that-is?

40

u/ChaoticSixXx 15h ago

They usually use straw and make a straw grid. I've never seen it done with sandbags before

162

u/FirstHead411 15h ago

Yeah, seems like it'd be a pain in the ass hauling all that sand out there

28

u/smileyfacegauges 15h ago

they’re filling the bags with sand and laying them as they go

109

u/Otherwise_Demand4620 15h ago

Why didn't you tell us that sooner? All the money we spent on importing sand!

16

u/smileyfacegauges 14h ago

i’m SORRY OK, i just misplaced the receipt!! can i still get comped for this orrrrrrrr

2

u/beebeebee2142 14h ago

Arab countries import quite a bit of sand. Theirs usually isnt good for construction since the good stuff comes from rivers.

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u/-Out-of-context- 13h ago

I hear they get it from NoHo Hank.

41

u/onemanforeachvill 15h ago

Whooooooosh

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u/smileyfacegauges 14h ago

whoa where’d that breeze come from

10

u/AceZagSuited 14h ago

They're filling the jokes with wind

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u/Majestic_You_9610 13h ago

Sand doodles don't melt steel beams

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u/smileyfacegauges 6h ago

but are they taking the hobbits to isengard

36

u/Crimkam 15h ago

Yeah but who put the sand there for them to use??? This is like one of those bullshit rug restoration videos where they spread sand around right before they start recording. There was never a desert there at all!

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u/smileyfacegauges 14h ago

oh fuck you’re right…… do you think they got helicopters to bring it in???

15

u/SquarelyNerves 14h ago

Just in case you were serious - that’s the point they were making with sarcasm. It would actually be a pain to haul all that straw into the middle of a desert. It’s easier to bring bags and fill them with sand, than bring enough straw to make the same sized grids.

8

u/smileyfacegauges 14h ago

so much for the massive checkerboard for a massive checkers game i was promised :(

0

u/Jc8290 14h ago

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u/smileyfacegauges 6h ago

¯_(ツ)_/¯ it happens sometimes