World Soil Day | What is it & How Can You Help?

Happy World Soil Day! At Gardenuity, we love to say that dirt matters. And every December 5th, the whole world agrees with us by celebrating soil.

For gardening purposes, soil is a home. It’s the way your plants get much of their nutritional needs, so it needs to be healthy and rich. However, soil isn’t important only to gardeners. Soil is also essential to human and earth health — which is why world soil day is so important.

Here’s what world soil day is, why it matters, & how you can help sustain soil health. Plus, how to make sure you have healthy soil for gardening.

What is World Soil Day?

World Soil Day was officially begun in 2012 by the United Nations. Initially, it was created to bring awareness about the dangers of soil loss — an impending problem for the world. Soil degradation and erosion have been increasing over the last few years through practices of deforestation, poor agriculture tactics, and pollution increase.

Why Does it Matter?

So, we’re losing some soil…why does that matter? Soil is a living organism that needs to be cared for properly. Besides being the home for beautiful growth and needed for a happy environment, soil is absolutely imperative to human health.

Without soil, there’s no agriculture and therefore no food — and we don’t mean just vegetables and fruit. Even the animals we eat, eat vegetation grown from the soil. As soil health lacks, it becomes harder to find places that can support the level of agriculture required to feed the world and its animals.

Additionally, soil reduces biodiversity loss. We have an enormous variety of life on the planet. Sadly, much of this variety is currently threatened. When soil robustness is at risk, so is much of the life on earth — including varieties that are vital to human health and varieties that simply add beauty.

What Can I Do?

1. Talk about it! The whole point of World Soil Day is to raise awareness, so help us let other people know. Tell your mom, your grandpa, your kids, and your neighbors. The more people know, the more care will be given back to the soil.
2. If you farm on any scale, engage in good agricultural practices. This includes reducing tillage, rotating crops, avoiding soil compaction, and more. See here for further information.
3. Do what you can to stop deforestation. For most of us, this means the little things. Plant a tree in your yard, go paperless at the office, and support companies that are sustainable.
4. Eat wisely! The primary reason soil loss is so prevalent is because of human consumption. As you pick our your meat and veggies, shop from brands that grow sustainably and thoughtfully — brands that care about the earth.

How Do I Create Healthy Soil for my Personal Garden?

Some of us do what we can for soil across the globe, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the soil in our backyard is suddenly healthy, prime growing ground.

The key components of a healthy growing soil environment is the right pH balance, the proper minerals, organic matter, and the right balance of drainage and moisture retention. It can be a challenging task to curate this environment — especially in a way that is prime for your plants and your climate.

However tricky it is, when you’re growing a garden, it’s vital to create this fertile soil environment. At Gardenuity, we know this. That’s why we’ve paired with lifetime soil experts to specifically create and customized soil for this exact purpose.

Read the dirty details on our dirt here, and truly see the difference in your grow.