In our time on the planet, humans have done profound damage to its environment. Today researchers are doing everything they can to reverse those choices and try to diminish their harms. There are many arrows in our quiver as we work to reverse the trend. Regenerative agriculture is one such arrow. This permaculture approach explores how we can help soil recover from years of pesticide applications and other degrading processes. Ironically, research to better understand how pesticides have harmed soils—and pave the way to reversing the damage and restoring the healthy mix of microbes that soil needs—usually starts with soil sterilization. 

So many research processes for improving and understanding permaculture begin with sterilizing soil; a challenging task at best and a potentially harmful one at worst. Chemical treatment may not even fully sterilize soil. But it will definitely make a sample more alkaline or otherwise growth inhibiting. And gamma radiation can impact soil’s chemical composition—and still not actually be fully sterile! The most effective and least harmful way to do it is using steam autoclaves. And the least environmentally harmful steam autoclave to use for soil sterilization is Priorclave’s.

While our commitment to biodiversity starts with building the world’s most sustainable steam autoclaves, it doesn’t stop there. We are eager to work with organizations in their commitments to conservation research. For instance, we’re proud to have a Priorclave in use at the Huntington Library, Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The Huntington is doing invaluable research into the optimal methods for preserving tissue samples of endangered plant species and varieties outside of their threatened natural habitats. 

Soil Sterilization with Steam Autoclaves

At Priorclave North America, we’ve always cared about making a product that does as little damage to the earth as possible. As Priorclave CEO Barbra Wells explains, “[we are currently] the only autoclave manufacturer…openly disclosing the true environmental impact of our products. All across this continent, researchers are working diligently to preserve our planet and reverse global climate change—while relying on equipment and supplies that needlessly waste thousands of gallons of water every single day.” We need sustainable labs for sustainable research. 

Labs conducting environmental research can have tremendous environmental footprints. It makes no sense to add fuel to flames you’re trying to put out. At one time, high resource consumption was simply a necessary cost of scientific progress. But that is simply no longer the case. Priorclave’s non-jacketed steam autoclaves are not just extremely reliable and undoubtedly the best value for research labs. They’re also the most sustainable choice currently on the market.