Soil pollution

Jenny and Michael are in the garden. Michael wants to plant some lettuce and some carrots to feed to his pet rabbits. He starts digging in the place where he wants to grow the vegetables. What’s this? Ew, it’s a plastic bag!

How did it end up here? Sometimes things end up in the soil, that shouldn’t be there. It can be rubbish, like the plastic bag in Michael and Jenny’s garden, other waste, or chemicals. All this can be harmful, or poisonous for plants, animals or humans. When things end up in the soil that shouldn’t be there, we say the soil is polluted.

One of the main causes of soil pollution is things we throw away that end up in landfills or somewhere on the ground. Say someone throws a plastic bag or a sweetie wrapper on the floor. It won’t disappear, but might end up in the soil. It stays there for a very long time, which can become a big problem. The plastic often breaks into much smaller pieces over time, but that doesn’t mean these pieces disappear.

Animals who live in or on the ground might eat them. This is a problem because plastic sits in the stomach of the animals. Animals can’t digest plastic, and might starve. Another problem is that when soil is full of plastic, air and water can’t circulate freely. This makes it difficult for plants to grow, because their roots can’t get much water and nutrients from the soil.

That’s why, if Michael plants vegetables in soil polluted by plastic, they probably won’t grow very well at all. A lot of waste that ends up in the soil also comes from big factories and industries. This waste can be chemicals that have been spilled into the soil, either accidentally or on purpose. Such chemicals run into the soil, and can poison the plants that grow there and the animals that feed on them. But nowadays, soil can also be polluted when growing crops on a large scale.

Big-scale farming usually uses a lot of chemicals, such as pesticides, that are meant to poison harmful insects. But these pesticides can also harm other animals and plants once they’re in the soil. There, plants might suck up the pesticides. When we eat crops, the pesticides in them can enter our bodies and can be harmful to our health. Chemicals used to help plants grow, fertilisers, can sometimes pollute the soil as well.

Fertilisers can harm other organisms like bacteria and earthworms, that are important for keeping soil healthy. But there are ways in which we can limit soil pollution and help soil recover. We can avoid using plastic as much as possible. We can also dispose of all other waste correctly. Recycling recyclable materials, such as glass and metal, and composting food waste are some great solutions!

Factories and industries can make sure that waste they produce, is disposed of safely, in a way that doesn’t harm the soil or the environment. Another possible solution is also to use less chemicals in farming. So what do we do now Jenny? First, we’ll dig up the whole garden to see if there’s any more rubbish buried in the soil. Then, you’ll help me make posters about the dangers of soil pollution.

Then we’ll go tell people why it’s wrong to throw rubbish on the ground. Come on now, what are you waiting for?