Back to Earth: Why businesses should be getting their hands dirty again--or at least their minds
Energy is in the headline of every other environmental publication these days. CHECK.
And who isn't hip to Kleen Kanteens as an alternative to bottled water. CHECK
Even climate change is, now that Hurricane Sandy's storm surges inundated NYC. CHECK.
Now, why don't businesses and the media put more weight into what's happening with soil in our backyards and worldwide. QUESTION
Of course it is important for a student like myself to build an appreciation of soil biodiversity as the foundation of life itself. However, soil's relevance to businesses in terms of how it affects the bottom line is grossly understated today, especially regarding food security. The pedosphere has significant economic repercussions for businesses far beyond the basic function of digesting dead organic matter and planting pretty flowers. Similarly, while soil carbon and methane are going to play an increasingly active role in climate change in coming decades as it is released due to more development and exposure, plus rising temperatures (more decay), many business people are barely even attuned to climate change itself still. As a result, I think that some of the clearest examples to use in explaining the business relevance of soil include putting it into traditional economic terms. For instance:
1. Soil Erosion. We need a) healthy soil and b) intact soil in order to produce food. We The People should know this; John Steinbeck's book, "The Grapes of Wrath," and the new Ken Burns film on the Dust Bowl delve into the indisputable history of how poor soil management techniques, particularly from large-scale cultivation, leads to loss of topsoil nutrition and the soil itself as it gets washed away in between crops. It is mainstream America yet so unspoken of. Yet although we have the knowledge to change practices and not repeat history, between poor farm management and deforestation, we're facing the same issues today in both the U.S. and other parts of the world: "As many as 100 million people in southwestern China could lose the land they depend on within 35 years if soil erosion continues at the current rate, according to a nationwide survey. Deforestation and farming practices are the principal drivers of the erosion, the survey from China's bio-environment security research team said. The report predicts harvests in northeastern China -- known as the national breadbasket -- could fall by 40 percent within half a century on current trends, even as the country's population of 1.3 billion continues to grow... The costs of erosion are expected to total $29 billion (200 billion yuan) in this decade alone, the report said, noting that poor people, many of whom live in coastal areas, will be the hardest hit" (Tania Branigan, London Guardian, Nov. 21, 2008 - http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/38722). China, America--could be any country. If those numbers don't speak to every business in the food industry, whether international or domestic, and every consumer concerned about food prices, I don't know what will. Aside from dollars lost in the farming and food industries, erosion also leads to the eutrophication of waterways, and loss of fishery businesses and tourist dollars.
2. Soil Compaction. Heavy farming equipment is a monstrous factor in soil's functional capacity in terms of how it diminishes the subsoil's productivity. Like with erosion, when soil is compromised from compaction, the dollar value of agricultural output plummets, affecting markets worldwide even years after compaction. According to the EU Soils site, "Crop yield reductions of more than 35% have been measured. Subsoil compaction proves to be very persistent, even in subsoils with shrinkage and swelling or annual deep freezing. Reduced crop yields and reduced nitrogen content in crops were detected 17 years after a single compaction event with wheel loads of 50 kN or 5,000 kg" (http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Themes.html). It's not just that roots cannot take ahold as easily and that nutrients cannot disseminate but that irrigation becomes a bigger, more expensive challenge too. Compacted soil holds little water
3. Soil Sealing. Speaking of compacted soil not holding water, when covered by pavement and buildings, it doesn't even touch water. I previously worked at a civil engineering firm, and one of the project managers most in demand by local governments and businesses was the stormwater engineer. When developed land loses its permeability, water chooses the path of least resistance during storm events and instead of returning to the soil, will flow over surfaces straight into sewers and waterways. The resulting overload of water treatment and infrastructure maintenance costs, plus sedimentation (and contamination) of waterways are expensive. It is increasingly of interest to not just stakeholders at the end of the flow but those with land because states like Massachusetts have laws limiting the allowable stormwater flows from commercial development. Instead, site designers are turning to soil- and plant-based approaches to water management on-site, like through bioswales. This is sometimes called Low-Impact Development. Aside from policy, an example of commonly adopted guidance on the topic is the LEED green building rating system, which has several credits on stormwater quantity control, brownfield remediation, open space preservation, landscaping species, and irrigation, among others.
4. Soil Salinisation. When saltwater intrusion occurs due to freshwater aquifer tables falling (e.g., Ipswich River watershed in Massachusetts), people and businesses can no longer use their wells--and this too is expensive. Going back a step to reducing soil sealing would help to re-charge the watershed's aquifers. Addressing saltwater intrusion from tsunamis is another coastal issue with great repercussions for fisheries businesses, in addition to other interests. Inland, in areas like some of the big lakes of the U.S. and Russia, where water was drained for irrigation and city use, a different form of mineral salinisation has ruined not just the soil around the lakebeds, but fisheries and tourism--perhaps irreparably, like when desertifcation occurs. One example, for the curious, is Lake Mead. Salinisation and nutrient leaching in less drastic forms result in other economic challenges because to compensate for lost productivity, some farmers will invest in more chemical fertilizers to (temporarily) boost yields.
5. Soil Contamination. This is one of the soil issues that has the most directly apparent consequences for businesses, as when one business unknowingly takes on the responsibility of the clean-up of former property owner's indiscretions (oil spills on a site, etc.). It doesn't have to be a Superfund site to garner attention. I used to conduct due diligence environmental site assessments for banks involved in real estate transactions so that they could be aware of such investment risks at otherwise mundane properties. And, as valuable undeveloped or reuse sites go on the market and available land diminishes, investors are becoming more and more aware of how the location value balances out with soil health. A good business might even envision building a community garden on its development but be unable to due to heavy metals in the soil. Contamination is square one for most people in learning to care about the soil.
Knowledge is power, and engaging organizations in conversations about soil will require enticing them to being open to some of the science and history of it. As a kid, I didn't know anything about soils and the ground aside from gardening looking like fun; then I traveled a bit and saw hillsides stripped clear from poor logging practices and muddied rivers devoid of fish just downstream, and crumbling roads where water was wearing away at them due to having no where else to go in settled areas. I wish that just exposure to personal stories and observations would also hook organizations onto the topic of soil stewardship but think that focusing on crop productivity and infrastructure costs related to soil, healthy soil'smany values, and identifying solid alternatives to the degrading practices is what would turn the corner for the pedosphere and return it to a respected, dynamic partner in business considerations.
To learn more, a good overview resource is this site: http://enviroliteracy.org/article.php/244.html
