The harmful effects of land pollution on the environment and health have become a major global concern. Practices such as poor waste management, mining and use of pesticides cause diseases and damage animal habitats. According to DoSomething.org, a nonprofit that advocates for social change, pollution kills more than 3 million children under 5 years old annually. Practices that add pollutants into the soil have prompted the government to intervene through the National Environmental Policy Act. You, too, can minimize land pollution by engaging in more environmentally friendly practices.
You should recycle resources to avoid waste and save some money. According to DoSomething.org, recycling averted the dumping of 85 million tons of material in 2010. In line with such statistics, the Environmental Protection Agency encourages you to recycle available resources to reduce soil pollution and minimize the cost of buying raw materials and managing waste. Local and state-sponsored materials and wastes exchanges can help you do this.
The Department of Agriculture encourages farmers to use biological pest control methods rather than using pesticides. The use of natural pest control methods reduces soil toxicity. For example, you could release parasitic and predatory insects, such as certain nematodes and lacewings. Other practices that minimize land pollution include the use of animal manures instead of inorganic fertilizers to avoid overloading the soil with nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus.
You should use resources sparingly to minimize waste. By conserving available resources, you can help to reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills. Decomposition in landfills produces toxic gases and liquids, such as methane and leachates. In addition, waste can lead to littering when people fail to implement proper waste management practices. According to the Department of Energy, you can minimize pollution by practicing judicious use of nonrenewable resources, such as oil and gasoline.
You can buy organic products to help in efforts aimed at minimizing soil pollution. Production of organic food does not involve the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. If more people buy organic products, the demand for nonorganic food will decline. Conventionally grown foods require artificial fertilizers and toxic pesticides to yield favorable results. Organic products, in contrast, do not pollute the environment because they are biodegradable.
