Perpetual Innovation

Category: soil

  • Composting Week & Food Waste

    Compost Week 2021

    Question: What Percentage of food goes to waste?

    This question is appropriate because this is International Composting Week, May 2-8, 2021, with a theme: Grow, Eat…COMPOST…Repeat.

    Some
    foods don’t make it out of the fields. Potatoes, corn, and tomatoes that are
    too small, or too ugly, may be left behind in the fields. In some cased, the
    farmers announce that the edible, but ugly, food is available for gleaning – all you have to do
    is drive over and gather it.

    In other cases, the food makes the long travel to
    restaurants and homes, but it is not consumed, so it goes to the municipal solid
    waste (MSW) system, i.e., to the landfill. Non-government organizations like EndHunger.org (Society of St. Andrew with a
    CharityNavigator score of 89.39) work to divert food from the waste stream to feed
    the poor and hungry people. There are several wonderful non-profit organizations — many have “misfit” or “ugly” in their names — and a growing number of for-profits that redirect food that would be totally wasted.

    About
    31% of food goes to waste after it has been packed and shipped to the end market.
    Overall, about 30%-40% worldwide goes to waste. In the US, food waste represents
    the largest amount of MSW by weight! Most of the wasted food is not composted
    or processed into energy (incinerated or natural gas recovery). Diverting food
    waste from the landfill is critical; food in landfills is derived of oxygen so
    it produces methane, a strong greenhouse gas.

    Rich Compost. 1 Month in Tumbler,

    Food waste (excluding meat,
    dairy, and such) can be composted. Yard waste is almost all compostable. Other
    things can be composted as well, including paper, newspaper, etc. Compost becomes
    a wonderful, rich soil (fertilizer) for your crops.

    There are several ways to
    compost. With a little open ground, you can create a composting mound. A compost
    tumbler might be a good approach for a homeowner.  Using earthworms to process waste into worm
    castings is sometimes an option (Vermicomposting or the
    raising of worms, Vermiculture).

    Two-Compartment Compost Tumbler.

    Also see:

    International Composting
    Week     is May 2-8, 2021, with a theme: Grow,
    Eat…COMPOST…Repeat    .

    World Soil Day
    is December 5. Mark your calendars every year to get the dirt on dirt.     International Union of
    Soil Sciences (IUSS)     is an international source.

    #Soil, #compost, #fertilizer, #food, #hunger, #sustainability, #Organic

  • Earth Day 2021 Quiz

    Earth Day 2021 Quiz (April 22, 2021)

        Test your knowledge of a few Earth related topics on Earth Day. Note that when you Google some of these topics, you can get rather wide ranges of answers. Make sure you are looking at the US (if that is the target region), rather current information, and rather reliable sources. Or, just wait a day to see what we think the correct answer should be. 

    Answers will be forthcoming today or tomorrow.

    1.  Plastics. Approximately what % of the US’s
    plastic gets recycled?

    a.  8-10%

    b.  14-15%

    c.  25-30%

    d.  45-50%

    2.  Plastics. Approximately what % of the US’s
    plastic makes its way into lakes, rivers, oceans?

    a.  0.5%

    b.  1%

    c.  3%

    d.  5%

    3.  Plastic in the environment (on land or in
    ocean). About how many years does it take to decompose a plastic bottle in the
    ocean?

    a.  Plastic decomposes in about 20 years.

    b.  Plastic decomposes in about 50 years.

    c.  Plastic decomposes in about 150 years.

    d.  Plastic doesn’t really decompose, but let’s
    go with 450 years.

    4.  Plastic in the oceans. Approximately how many
    years before the plastic in the oceans will exceed the fish? (by weight). 

    a.  Too last, plastic already exceeds fish in
    oceans (by weight).

    b.  2030. In 10 years, plastic should exceed fish
    (by weight).

    c.  2050. In 30 years, plastic should exceed fish
    (by weight).

    d.  2100. In 80 years, plastic should exceed fish
    (by weight).

    5.  Manatees in Florida are dying at an unusually
    high rate recently. What is the primary cause of deaths in 2021?

    a.  Boats

    b.  Cold

    c.  Disease

    d.  Starvation

    6.  The artic is melting enough that ships can
    now travel through the Arctic to the North during the summer and avoid the
    Panama Canal or longer routes? Approximately how long during the summer can
    ships now navigate through the Arctic?

    a) About 4 weeks of thaw sufficient to
    navigate in the summer.

    b) About 8 weeks of thaw sufficient to
    navigate in the summer.

    c)  About 3 months of thaw sufficient to
    navigate in the summer.

    d)  About 365 days a year.

    7.  About, what percentage of the US lakes,
    rivers and streams are polluted (according to US EPA)?  (Polluted, as in no swimming and you should
    not eat the fish, if there are any.)

    a.  4%-5%

    b.  10%-15%

    c.  25%-30%

    d.  40%-45%

    8.  Soil. The current “industrial” farming
    methods deplete the topsoil. No topsoil, little or no farm crops. At the
    current rate of topsoil depletion, how many years do we have before we “run
    out” of topsoil? [Ooops…. Things changed… problems with this question… Well, with the answers…]

    a.  About 20 years until the world’s topsoil will
    be effectively depleted.

    b.  About 30 years until the world’s topsoil will
    be effectively depleted.

    c.  About 60 years until the world’s topsoil will
    be effectively depleted.

    d.  About 100 years until the world’s topsoil
    will be effectively depleted.

    9.  Extinction. Out of about 8 million plant and
    animal species on earth, approximately how many are in threat of extinction?

    a.  100K, 1.2%

    b.  300K, 3.7%

    c.  500K, 6.2%

    d.  1M, 12.5%

    10.  Earths. Current estimates are that we
    significantly overuse the earth’s resources (overshoot the earth’s carrying
    capacity). We currently need part of another earth to be “sustainable”. But, if
    the rest of the world consumed at the same rate per person as we do in the US,
    how many earths do we need?

    a.  2 earths (+1)

    b.  3 earths (+2)

    c.  4 earths (+3)

    d.  5 earths (+4)

    11.  What is the depth of the oceans? (Plus, water
    expands when warmed about 0.000214 per +1C for seawater, so how much would sea
    levels rise based on a +1 degree Centigrade increase in global temperature that
    transferred throughout the oceans.)

    a.  Average ocean depth is 1,000ft (+1C temp
    increase = +2.6in increase in avg ocean level.)

    b.  Average ocean depth is 2,500ft (+1C temp
    increase = +6.4in increase in avg ocean level.)

    c.  Average ocean depth is 1.2 mile (+1C temp
    increase = +16.3in in increase avg ocean level.)

    d.  Average ocean depth is 2.3 miles (+1C temp
    increase = +31.2in increase in avg ocean level.) 

  • Landmark lawsuit claims Monsanto hid cancer danger of weedkiller, plus Glyphosate fate

    Landmark lawsuit claims Monsanto hid cancer danger of weedkiller for decades | Business | The Guardian:

    There is lots of mounting evidence against Roundup, and/or the use of genetically modified crops. The research seems to be evenly split between the research paid for by Monsanto ( directly or indirectly ) and the more independent research that points to issues.

    The evidence is pretty clear, however, of the negative impact of prolonged glyphosate use on the soil.

    Want to know more about Glyphosate on the soil, go to the Soil Association  (www.soilassociation.org). They summarized available research related to the impact of glyphosate on soil health as of mid 2016. They found mixed results but strong evidence to support serious concerns about glyphosate and its impact on these specific areas of soil health:
    1) leaching into the water, especially with prolonged glyphosate exposure
    2) impact on soil micro-organisms, especially when regular use of herbicide(s)
    3) impact on fungi (that live near plant roots that provide nutrients as well as protect against drought and disease
    4) severity and occurrence of crop diseases
    5) impact on earthworms.

    For example, two studies found no impact of glyphosate on earthworms, 4 studies did (related to reproduction, movement or activity of different species of earthworms).

    Although the World Health Organization has a report that suggests that glyphosate can “probably” cause cancer, other international organizations have not gone so far. See the article in Wikipedia on glyphosate.

    Note that glyphosate was first patented in 1950 as a chelator. “Stauffer Chemical patented the agent as a chemical chelator in 1964 as it binds and removes minerals such as calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, and zinc.” (View patent here.)

    It wasn’t until 1970s that Monsanto came out with its patented herbicide under the brand name RoundUp.

    Note that a chelator can be used to deliver certain minerals as a fertilizer to the soil in ways that would not otherwise be readily absorbable to plants. But in the case of glyphosate, it ties up critical minerals (calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc), depriving the plant (weed) to the point of killing it.

    Glyphosate is a registered pesticide (EPA) since 1970s. The most recent draft of the risk assessment by the EPA is here. The draft is open for discussion, so those people/organizations who think that glyphosate is more of a health (and nutrition) risk than Monsanto would want us to believe have an  opportunity to weigh in on the issue.

    RoundUp is applied to the entire field, both the genetically modified crop (corn or soy) and the weeds within. The weeds die, the crop does not. But you have to wonder about the health and nutritional value of the crop?

    It is unlikely that Monsanto has been fully truthful and completely forward on the health impacts of phosphate. It seems even more unlikely that Monsanto has been totally forthright on the nutritional values of organics vs. industrial farming with GMO crops that are heavily doused with glyphosate.

    If Monsanto has been untruthful, these court cases could go against the company. If the company has been covering up damning evidence, it could become really, really ugly for the company.

    No matter what happens, the merger of Monsanto with Bayer is eminent. (Bayer’s $66B buyout offer is from September of 2016, but still facing regulator approval.) Monsanto has enough negative image issues, that the name should be discontinues within a year or so. It will be interesting to see how much liability from RoundUp, Bayer will bear!???

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Is 2015 The Year Soil Becomes Climate Change’s Hottest Topic? | ThinkProgress

    Is 2015 The Year Soil Becomes Climate Change’s Hottest Topic? | ThinkProgress:

    Global Soil Week was last week.

    It slipped by without even a stain on the knees for most of us.

    Give a look at this recount of the week’s activities and the progress to address the issues we are generating for out soil, our top soil and the planet in general.

    This is really ugly. One estimate is that we could deplete all top soil within 60 years. (Gotta question this one a little bit, but the concept is valid.)

    And new studies show that the problem gets worse and worse as the temperatures of the planet rise.

    Really ugly.

    Smarter ag management and no-till farming is a great place to start on the critical, really CRITICAL, environmental issue.

    ‘via Blog this’