What it topsoil, and how does it form? Some of you have probably heard of it. But do you know what it is?
Well, it's pretty simple. Topsoil is literally the top layer of soil, and it forms from the rotten fruits, veggies, and flowers that fall to the ground, from dead animals, from poop, and from fallen trees and leaves (in a natural environment, anyway). This icky stuff is decomposed (broken down) by worms and other insects (such as beetles and grubs) called decomposers, who literally eat the stuff then poop it out, as well as by bacteria and fungi (mushrooms). This topsoil is very fertile and very good for plants, which is why it is crucial to farmers.
But! And of course there's a but! See, in today's world, people cut down trees all the time. According to the WWF (the World Wildlife Fund), about 46-58 thousand square miles of forest are lost each year - that's approximately 36 football fields per MINUTE. And when you cut down trees, there are no more rotten fruits and veggies, no more fallen trees, and frankly, no more animals either. So there's nothing to form the topsoil, and nothing can grow there.
Aaaand we're not done yet. There's another problem. As it says on the site www.worldfooddayusa.org, one-third of all the foods produced per year go uneaten. That means over two billion tons of waste! And where does this stuff go? Well, we could burn it (and pollute our sky) or we could landfill it (and pollute our land). Fact of the matter is, neither option is very appealing. The solution: compost. It's easy. Take your food waste, put it in a compost bin, add some worms and other critters or special bacteria-stuff, and within a few months/a year you have the ultimate fertilizer. Yay!
So! On to the next part of my homework now. See, there are many composting projects going on all over the world. I'm going to share one that is, well, a little icky, but the idea is nice. I discovered this on the site reuters.com. See, in Seattle, there's a local group of people who want to actually compost human bodies. The founder is a woman named Katrina Spade, and she says that it's much better than cremation or burial of the bodies. How would it work? The body would be put into a core, and then - a few weeks later - tadah, a cubic yard of compost! That's enough to plant a tree in. This is a nice idea, in my opinion, because people's bodies are going back to the earth, where they belong. As Katrina Spade says, "the idea is to fold the dead back into the city." They're there - they're remembered - and they're helping the environment. What could be better?
Now, this plan isn't in action yet. Katrina Spade estimates that it will take about three more years to get it up and running, because they'll have to ask for a change in some laws and also get funding. But if all goes well, this will solve some problems - less space needed for graveyards, less air pollution from burning bodies, and also fertilizer to grow trees and such, which are the greenest of green. Cross your fingers that this works out, and...
very interesting (the idea of using dead people for compost), but I doubt many people will want that done to their remains (or the families of the dead). Actually, putting the bodies in the soil probably does the same, although it takes a long time, no?
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