Preventing Soil Contamination

Soil contamination is a current environmental issue we have today. . . and so . . .

What is soil contamination?

Soil contamination is when toxic chemicals and other materials infiltrate the soil that causes devastation to the environment, in all forms: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the geosphere, and the biosphere.

Since soil affects so much, it really affects everything. So, if the soil near your house is contaminated, it could get into your water and affect the air you breathe all around you. And this doesn't affect only all the environment around you: it affects you, too. What if you eat some produce just to realize they had grown in contaminated soil? That contamination can get to you and pose all sorts of health problems. And it doesn't have to be directly, either, since it could go through a different sphere to get to you.

So how can we stop this hazardous pollution and help our plants, animals, and ourselves?

Don't worry -- as always, there are lots of ways to prevent this.

1. Use less chemicals in your soil -- such as your lawn, your garden, or, if you have one, your farm. Use less, or, as preferred, zero pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc., etc. These chemicals might get harmful and leach into different parts of the soil, later navigating its way to groundwater, air and organisms which is definitely not a good idea to do.

2. COMPOST!!! Composting helps prevent diseases and pests without having to further chemicalize your area. By composting organic items, such as banana peels, tissues, apple cores, orange peels, chilis, stale leftovers, etc., etc., you can easily dispose of your food - related and other compostable items and support your soil's health at the same time. You can also supply worms into the garden if you don't already have a lot to help with this and provide a natural fertilizer.

3. Treat your waste. Alkaline, acidic and bio waste should all be treated and made into smaller elements before disposing into the soil. Also, not only that, but make sure your local sewers are hygienically treated and all sludge and dirt is taken care of.

4. If you feel that there's too much urbanization and soil, water and air issues in your area, especially runoff, you can start thinking about buffer strips, for the quality of all. This can support and create wildlife and habitats, helping improve the hygiene and quality of many things, especially soil if you specifically focus on it.

5. Stop littering!! Littering is a main factor in many, many environmental problems, including this. Littering polythene and plastic harms our soil by a lot. Since it takes probably about a thousand years for plastic to biodegrade into the soil in our landfills, it probably takes almost as much littered in a random area. Littered plastic can leach all sorts of harmful chemicals into our soil and water, potentially harming our ecosystems.

____________________________________________________________________

So, as you can undoubtedly notice, all sorts of causes can harm our soil. And contaminated soil is not a good thing for us, nor is it a good thing for the future of our planet.

If we want to prevent too much of this happening and for us to have not just clean soil, but clean water, fresh, clean produce, healthy animals, and a healthy us, we've got to take action with these simple steps and more.