5 Ways to Value Dirt

The word "dirt" isn't exactly valued in human language. Besides it's, um...un-clean connotations, it's also used as an unflattering adjective: dirt poor, dirt cheap, etc. However, of course, dirt gives life. Without dirt, we humans would not be here. As is the case with many essential natural "resources," disappearing dirt (and its topsoil nutrients) is becoming a major global issue...at least to those paying attention.

That's why I figured the time was right to get down and dirty with dirt.

WATCH VIDEO: Chinese Soil Unfit for Future Farming

Reality Check: We Can't Live Without Topsoil

5 Ways to Value Dirt

1.http://cm.howstuffworks.com/list-template.php?step2 Precious

With nutrient-rich topsoil, human life would vanish...but due to overgrazing, 850 million people live on land threatened by desertification and over 230 million already live on land so severely desertified that they are unable to sustain their existence and face imminent starvation.

2. Home

Rammed earth, according to Molly Edmonds at HowStuffWorks.com, starts with "a plywood structure that provides the outline of a wall ... already in place." From there: "A cross-grade, or mix, of soils is rammed into the walls, either by hand or machine. When everything is packed tightly, the forms are removed, and what's left is a solid, stable wall. Builders ram and repeat until the entire house is built."

3. Earthworm TerritoryYour typical earthworm serves as an ecosystem engineer of sorts. As they tunnel through the soil, these passageways air and water to circulate to soil microorganisms and plant roots. As the gang at BackyardNature.net explains: "Each year on an acre of average cultivated land, 16,000 pounds of soil pass through earthworm guts and are deposited atop the soil." Charles Darwin calculated that if all the worm droppings (rich in nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus) resulting from ten years of worm work on one acre of soil were spread over that acre, it would be two inches thick.4. Peaking"Peak" is a popular word these days—in particular when used before the word oil. But Peak Dirt? The concept refers to topsoil or, to be more specific, topsoil depletion. Earth, on average, is covered with about 3 feet of topsoil and this shallow skin of nutrient-rich matter sustains most of our food and plays a critical role in supporting life. "The estimate is that we are now losing about 1 percent of our topsoil every year to erosion, most of this caused by agriculture," explains David Montgomery, a geologist at the University of Washington.5. A Good Place to Start Changing the CultureIt's been estimated that 75 percent of original U.S. topsoil has already been lost and 4,000,000 acres of U.S. cropland is lost each year to soil erosion (that's roughly the size of Connecticut). An acre of U.S. trees disappears every eight seconds. Since 85 percent of U.S. topsoil loss is directly associated with livestock raising, there is a way we can all do our part to battle Peak Dirt: go vegan.