Earth Day was established on April 22nd 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson. Its initial purpose was to provide a platform for all the different environmentalist groups to unite under a single day to thrust forward their message of conservation and environmental preservation. The movement was successful with over 20 million people participating world wide by marches and rallies in the name of Earth Day.
The main theme of this movement was ultimately to push through reform for conservation and to drive home the need for action now. It provided environmentalists around the world avenue to get their message across to governments and large corporations to change their practices in favor of green production and farming.
As a result of their efforts great progress has been seen in two main areas, namely the usage of renewable resources and also the production and distribution of natural products which were made with the overall environment in mind. A large part of the conservation message also was regarding the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and the horrible damage that they do to the environment over the long-run.
Over the years since the introduction of synthetic fertilizers, their true costs are slowly being felt by long term users of these damaging products. The huge initial crop yields are not long lasting. Over time yields fade and soil fertility drops dramatically as soil is damaged and even sometimes killed due to the chemical leaching and burning they do. As a result soil is subjected to the risk of desertification and soon nothing can crow on the land resulting ultimately and farmer bankruptcy and destroyed land.
In addition to destroying soils and perfectly good farmland, they also provide a devastating affect to local water systems. The run-off from these highly soluble fertilizers almost always reaches bodies of water which simply cant cope with the additional nutrients. The access nitrification causes uncontrollable growth of weeds and algae which can suffocate the river system and eventually death of a river ecosystem.
The best way to overcome this problem is to stop using synthetic chemical fertilizers altogether. Their real costs factoring in the eventual destruction of land and soil is astronomically high compared to simply using natural organic fertilizers. With organic fertilizers there is no risk of destroying the local eco-system and their long-term use will actually improve soil and land conditions without any adverse affect on the environment.
Organic fertilizers make use of raw natural products like litter, compost, scrap fish and even farm wastes. Whatever is taken from the earth in terms of raw input is then returned to the earth in the form of fertilizer. This equality means that the balance of the ecosystem is maintained with very little risk of ever upsetting the balance.
Although we are used to the idea of large corporations and industrial farms changing their practices to favor environmentally friendly practices, action from individual private citizens can also be very helpful. We can start by changing out law fertilizing habits by buying only naturally organic products and keep from overusing products in favor of conservation.
Although we have made dire mistakes in the past by neglecting the needs of our ecosystem we are by no means beyond saving ourselves. We instead need to be steadfast and look to the future. It is only through our work that our children can enjoy the 100th anniversary of Earth Day looking back saying that their parents succeeded in making a difference.
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