Remember the scene from The Dark Knight, where the Joker burns a mountain of stolen cash with the words “It’s not about money… it’s about sending a message”? Easily one of the best cinematic moments in history. Although not as dramatic as that, the Fed takes a somewhat similar approach when it has to get rid of old, tattered dollar bills.

Every so often, the Fed pulls millions of old banknotes out of circulation, replacing them with new dollar bills. What happens to the discarded money, you ask? It gets shredded, of course. Now, this is the fun part. Up until now, the pulverized bills were dumped inside landfills. Recently, however, the Fed has adopted a more eco-friendly approach, aimed at recycling all that old money into soil. What is more, the soil could actually be used for growing trees, fruits and vegetables.

Don’t believe us? Watch the following video to see how millions of dollars are turned, a bit ruthlessly perhaps, into fertile dirt.

Via: Gizmodo