A Dirt-y Story for Earth Day
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Dirt deserves more respect. Why? As the earth’s skin, it’s a crucial support system for all life on our planet. The food we eat depends on it. Without it, we’d look like Mars. Most importantly, soils are the largest land-based carbon sink on Earth: our planet’s most valuable tool against greenhouse gases!
While creatures like mice, shrews, worms, and microbes all play a part in keeping our soils healthy, it can take at least 100 years for nature to produce just one inch of fertile soil. This is precious stuff!
But our soils are at risk. Almost 20% of the world’s surface lands have been degraded by erosion and mismanagement. Fortunately, there’s a wealth of know-how in the world about how to protect and preserve our soil resources. Small-holder farmers around the world are playing a key part. What about you?
Dig In
Yard Waste and food scraps make up 20-30% of our garbage. Rather than put that waste in a trash bag and bury it in a landfill, why not make use of it? Composting is an excellent way to make your own high-quality, inexpensive fertilizer! Gardens grow better in soil mixed with compost. Check out the Compost Council of Canada to learn more. If you have room, start composting in your own back yard. Or see if your municipality or community has composting programs you can join.
Dig Deep
A must see, DIRT! The Movie takes you inside the wonders of soil. It tells the story of Earth’s most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility. Shot in over 20 locations, including Argentina, Brazil, France, India, Kenya, and the United States, the documentary features renowned global visionaries offering new ideas for repairing this natural resource with practical, viable solutions. Find out more and watch the trailer.
DIRT! The movie recently aired on the PBS documentary series Independent Lens, so keep an eye on your local listings for your chance to see the film. Or complete the survey on USC’s Facebook page by April 28 to be
Dig Deeper
USC Canada supports farming solutions that secure a source of food and livelihoods for small-scale farmers without losing the resource base essential for sustaining it. That includes efforts to conserve and improve soils. But we can’t do it alone. A donation to USC helps support our award-winning Seeds of Survival program, and the thousands of small farmers who are nurturing their lands through activities like the ones below.
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USC Canada
was founded by
Dr Lotta Hitschmanova in 1945. Our award-winning Seeds of Survival program promotes vibrant family farms, strong rural communities, and healthy ecosystems around the world.
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