ABSTRACT
A common bumper sticker is one that asks the question, “Have you thanked a green plant today?” This is an obvious reference to plants whose photosynthesis produces the food that we and most other animals depend on for our existence. An even more fundamental question is whether we have thanked the soil-the clods of dirt-on which green plants depend for their existence. Good, productive soil combined with a suitable climate and adequate water is the most valuable asset that a nation can have. Vast areas of the world lack this fundamental asset, and the people living in areas with poor soil often suffer poverty and malnutrition as a result. Furthermore, areas that once had adequate soil have seen it abused and degraded to the extent that it is no longer productive. One of the central challenges faced by the practice of green chemistry and industrial ecology is to retain and enhance the productive qualities of soil. The remainder of this chapter addresses soil and the aspects of agriculture related specically to soil.
