Natural Resources
Whether we like it or not, plastic is a major part of our lives. The production and use of plastics has been found to create a problem because “microplastics” are accumulating in our soils.
Have you ever thought about where your waste goes? For people living in cities, it goes to a treatment plant. However, treated wastewater ultimately finds its way into a local waterway. This means it could end up in your nearby stream, river, or lake.
For more than four decades, biosolids have been applied to land and studied by researchers for many useful purposes. Biosolids are a product of the wastewater treatment process. Yes, that means sewage. However, the sewage is treated carefully to ensure it has beneficial properties and is not harmful.
Given current global challenges, lawmakers have proposed allowing select land currently enrolled or soon-to-be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to be opened for crop production in the immediate future. In 2021, approximately 315,000 U.S. producers received CRP payments, accounting for roughly 22 million acres enrolled in the CRP program or 8.7% of U.S. cropland.
Crops need nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus to grow and thrive. However, excess nutrients from farms can wash into streams and rivers, and even make their way into oceans. The surplus in nutrients can cause major damage to aquatic ecosystems; but small wetlands can be of tremendous help in reducing or preventing this damage.
Abandoned orchards can be a beautiful sight. The neatly lined rows of trees often stick around for decades. Although beautiful, it may not be as easy to tell that there could be trouble below the surface. Harsh, toxic pesticides used in the past can linger in the soil. They might even make it to the groundwater and nearby wells.
Baking a cake from scratch has more variables than baking one from a boxed mix. Though one can debate why – and when – cake mixes were developed, they are popular, and produce a uniform product. (They were really patented in the 1930s!)
Studying new fertilizer options is the first step to getting farmers to eventually use them on their crops. A mineral called struvite has the potential to be an effective phosphorus fertilizer that may be considered organic.
More than half the world’s population lives in urban areas. In the United States, more than 8 out of every 10 people are urbanites. Urban ecosystems often have less diverse animal and plant life compared to natural areas. But that’s not necessarily the case when it comes to microbes.
A new study suggests we may have more opportunities to protect our waterways. That’s because one system for keeping too many nutrients out of streams could be used more widely than it is now.