When it comes to methods of cleaning the world’s most polluted waterways, using grass probably isn’t the solution that immediately comes to mind. But an innovative partnership in the Philippines is using an 88.5-foot-long floating billboard made of vetiver to purify Manila’s insanely dirty Pasig River. The hopeful message it displays as it drifts on top of the water? “Clean River Soon.”
Most people know of vetiver as the main ingredient in the classic Guerlain men’s cologne, but it turns out that the noninvasive grass, which is native to India, sprouts long, tough blades that easily mat together and have powerful cleaning abilities. Natural cosmetics company Shokubutsu Hana, the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, Vetiver Farms Philippines, and local advertising agency TBWASMP teamed up to create the billboard from the plant.
According to Shokubutsu Hana’s website, the grass traps debris and absorbs nitrates, phosphates, heavy metals like lead, and agricultural chemicals from water. The company has only committed to creating personal care products that don’t poison water when they’re washed down the drain. They decided to communicate that promise in a way that also makes a difference. According to the company, the vetiver grass billboard that is stationed in the Pasig can clean up to eight thousand gallons of water per day.