Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Welcome to the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton!
This podcast explores the greatest and most wicked problem that is sustainability, whilst looking at how we are collectively addressing this critical global challenge.
Sustainability needs to be addressed by understanding how the economy, society, culture, politics and environment intersect, and this is the focus that informs each episode of the Meliora podcast.
In each episode, host Professor Simon Kemp and guest hosts are joined by a variety of guests, including academics, students, staff, researchers, alumni, community groups and business leaders.
The aim of the podcast is to shine a light on the vast range of topics surrounding sustainability and to allow listeners to learn about the critical challenges we face, as well as how they can be part of the solution. We also ensure our fantastic students have the opportunity to share their brilliant work with the world.
Podcast host: Professor Simon Kemp, Deputy Director of the Sustainability & Resilience Institute, University of Southampton
Podcast editors: Lily Killner, Sophie Green, Libby Kale, Jack Dunham, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton
Please do get in touch to discuss this podcast and any of the issues we raise by emailing sri@soton.ac.uk
Follow us on instagram and X: @meliorapodcast
Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Lily Killner - The opportunities and challenges surrounding sustainable houseplant production
In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium we are joined by (Meliora Editor) Lily Killner (BSc Environmental Science) to discuss her Independent Research Project 'The Impacts of Houseplant Production'.
Houseplant demand has been growing rapidly since the Covid-19 pandemic, causing concerns for sustainability due to resource demand (SDG 12), energy requirements (SDG 7 and 13) and pollution (SDG 14). A life cycle analysis was conducted to identify the components of production with the greatest carbon footprint; with substrate, fertilizer and pots scoped in, followed by analysis of alternative materials. There was no significant difference between the three substrates scoped in, but nitrogen was found to be the largest emitter compared to the other components of fertilizer. Fertilizer and substrate were found to have significantly higher footprints compared to pots. Barriers to implementation and possibility to mitigate the footprint and additional impacts were identified to fully evaluate the materials scoped in.
Further reading:
Bulgari, R., Petrini, A., Cocetta, G., Nicoletto, C., Ertani, A., Sambo, Paolo., Ferrante, A., Nicola, S., 2021. The impact of COVID-19 on horticulture: critical issues and opportunities derived from an unexpected occurrence. Horticulturae, 7(6), 124. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7060124
Darras, A. I., 2020. Implementation of sustainable practices to ornamental plant cultivation worldwide: a critical review. Agronomy, 10(10), 1570. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10101570
The Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium is part of the 2024 Student Takeover Season where we celebrate the fantastic sustainability research work of our Undergraduate Students.
Episode Guest: Lily Killner
Episode Host: Prof Simon Kemp
Episode Editor: Lily Killner
Engage with us on instagram and X: @meliorapodcast
