It doesn't come easy's Journal: Robotic Greenhouses

Here's a predicament that happens all too often in our short term profit driven economy...tens of thousands of empty storage containers, manufactured in Asia and shipped to the US full of product, now lie stacked in towers alongside I-95 in New Jersey. The problem? They are too cheap to be shipped back to Asia but too expensive here in the US to recycle. Of course, one man's garbage is another man's business opportunity. According to Wired News, Lior Hessel of OrganiTech believes those containers would make ideal miniature robotic farms. The idea is to use OrganiTech's robotic greenhouse system to convert the containers into miniature farms that grow food close to where it is consumed, thereby saving most of the transportation cost. OrganiTech's system is entirely free of pesticides (the greenhouses keep positive air pressure inside the structure, so few if any insects can fly in) and are grown hydroponically (without soil) so nutrients, fertilizers and water requirements are one-third to one-fifth the needs of soil-grown lettuce (lettuce is used as an example for cost comparison in the article). In addition to food produced for consumption, OrganiTech is also in talks with several pharmaceutical companies to create custom "plant factories" for genetically engineered crops that produce medically useful compounds. And best of all, with the farms being entirely automated, the cost of labor would consist of a single computer technician's salary. Is there a robotic greenhouse in your future?