Meet Our Plant Scientist: Barrett Wilson


What inspired you to want to work with Re-Nuble?

It’s the opportunity to work with a company that will help growers make significant improvements in their sustainability efforts. As a grower myself, I understand the challenges faced in finding substrates and fertilizers that not only perform well, but also reduce or remove negative impacts on the environment. Re-Nuble will help growers bridge the gap in meeting sustainaility targets and I can’t wait to contribute!

Do you have a green thumb and how do you practice it?

Yes, I’ve been growing plants of all kinds ever since I can remember. Even though I don’t have a favorite plant or group of plants, I love a challenge and will try to push the limits of how and where different plants can be grown – both indoors and outdoors.

What does a Sustainable NYC mean to you and how do you envision Re-Nuble fitting into that vision?

As one of the world’s greatest cities, NYC should serve as a model in its development and implementation of sustainability initiatives. Re-Nuble can likewise serve as a model for achieving sustainability goals, for both commercial growers and home gardeners who wish to use products and technologies that have the potential to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. Re-Nuble’s growth will also mean strengthening the infrastructure and availability of biobased products.

How do you practice aspects of a circular economy/sustainability at home

Aside from household recycling of consumer waste, we focus mainly on being sustainable with our food purchases whenever possible. This means not only buying items that are produced as locally as possible, but also refraining from buying locally out-of-season produce. We like to purchase leafy greens and soft fruits from the many vertical farms that are local to the NYC metro ara.

What would you like to see Re-Nuble do differently for cities that other companies or brands have failed to do so or have not invested the efforts in creating?

There are many startups making great strides in improving the availability of locally grown food. However, there needs to be greater support for them in terms of products that can help them achieve this more responsibly. By demonstrating the efficacy of products such as ReNu Terra mats and Away We Grow fertilizers, we can help build a greater demand for inputs that are focused on sustainability. As industries such as controlled environment agriculture continue to evolve, there will be more opportunities for Re-Nuble to have a greater positive impact on industry success.