One of our most powerful global warming solutions is: “If we take care of healthy soil, Mother Earth will take care of us.”
The methods to get healthy soil are called regenerative agriculture. Essentially, we want to put more organic material into our soils. This, in turn, means less carbon pollution enters the air.
And that fights global warming, while at the same time making soils more productive – an urgent advantage in a world where human population keeps growing.
There are many subtle tricks master farmers use in regenerative agriculture:
According to the researchers at Project Drawdown, “practices include:
- no tillage,
- diverse cover crops,
- in-farm fertility (no external nutrients),
- no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, and
- multiple crop rotations.
“Together, these practices increase carbon-rich soil organic matter. The result: vital microbes proliferate, roots go deeper, nutrient uptake improves, water retention increases, plants are more pest resistant, and soil fertility compounds.”
As a longtime backyard gardener I would add my primitive version: Make lots and lots of home compost. Capture all kitchen waste, and organic debris like leaves or grass clippings and simply make a layered pile. In about six weeks it has turned into a lovely, clean and light soil – “compost.” Use it throughout the garden.
Long a movement among organic farmers and home gardeners, regenerative agriculture is now used by mainstream farmers who are worried about soil depletion. (Good business people that they are, mainstream farmers know how to protect their long-term prospects.)
To learn more, visit David Roseboro’s piece in EcoWatch showing how “farmers worldwide can help preserve the world’s soils, feed a growing global population, mitigate climate change and protect the environment.”
Ask yourself, “In my region, how can I use my foodbuying power to cast a vote?”
Demand food produced using sustainable soils practices.
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Not sure how to start saving the planet (civilization, really)… Start by remembering Al Gore’s saying: “Hope is a renewable resource.” Keep your morale up.
Then, our immediate practical first step becomes “Deeply know our personal Superpowers,” those skills over which we all have 100% control:
3) To save the planet, USE OUR VOICES and take advocacy seriously in all its many flavors: Never miss a vote and never stop influencing your government. Influence the vast business world by voting with your buying power… business listens when you speak its language. Set a solid example in your personal life. Tell friends what we must do. Finally, have a carefully-chosen annual donor program. All of these are ways you can use your voice.
No one can take your personal power away. Stay focussed on the list of substantive global warming solutions.
And at all times, cast aside the “learned-helplessness” that infects so much of modern life… the time is now for action.
Never give up.
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