Just seemed like a good idea at the time.

Disposable organic material (they specified cotton) and when dug up they could see how fast it decayed.

This is important in cold environments to measure how "alive" should is with micro organisms.

Something like a peat bog has zero oxygen, so doesn't support microorganisms, hence little to no biological decay.

That's a smart idea - surely everyone has at least one pair that they get out the wash and think why did I wash these instead of throwing them out?

I've been doing this for years, but you don't see me bragging about it

If my underwear got buried, it would dig its way out of the ground and say "send more cops".

Then, "Well, I cleaned them, might as well use them one more time." I am not sure how/when the cycle stops.

I thought that's the only way you were legally able to dispose of your underwear.

A lot of anaerobes exist especially in soil, peat bog would support those microorganisms.

I love the idea of including many of the volunteers as co-authors. Great way to get the community interested in science