Carbon is notorious for its contribution to climate change. Its ubiquitous presence in our atmosphere subjects it to vilification for environmental degradation. However, what people often fail to acknowledge, is that Carbon is not inherently bad. Carbon is the building block of life, and whether it becomes a problem or solution simply depends on a matter of balance.

The Earth has five pools of Carbon storage: The Atmosphere, Oceans, Biosphere, Fossil, and Soil. Currently, Carbon has been extracted from the Fossil pool, sending over 880 gigatons of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere—destabilising our climate. Excess carbon is also sent to the oceans, leading to ocean acidification and mass extinction. Soil, on the other hand, is a much bigger carbon pool than the atmosphere and biosphere combined. Yet, our farmed soils have managed to lose 50-70% of their carbon stock.

The current relationship that most people have with nature/the land is degenerative. We are over-expending the natural ability for the land to replace it, and we’re depleting the world’s natural resources at a rate beyond which it may be replenished.

At the thought of soil, most of us conjure images of dirt...simple particles that belong under our feet. Little time is spent dwelling on this particulate matter, other than the fact that they provide fertile ground for plants to grow.

However, it appears that soil has the potential to regenerate our Earth and reverse climate change. According to Ryland Engelhart, the co-founder of Kiss the Ground, “Carbon, that is currently one of the biggest problems in our atmosphere, can be one of the biggest solutions when it is in our soil.” A regenerative model begets an upward spiral of biodiversity and abundance in the ecosystem.

Source: Kiss The Ground Soil Advocacy Training

Soil is essential to all life on land. It is the source of 95% of food produced, the base of all on-land diversity, and the reason we have clean water sources. It’s the most biodiverse ecosystem on the planet, the most scalable solution and the best carbon sink. Along with being low-tech and low-cost, harnessing the power of soil can help increase soil fertility and sequester carbon—posing a hopeful solution to climate change.

So how does this work?

“Carbon sequestration is not the end but the means to rebuilding highly functioning land.”

When bare ground/soil is exposed, water evaporates, microorganisms die, and carbon is released. Instead, what we want is more carbon going in than decomposed on the surface. Not only can harnessing the power of plants and the life of the soil food web help sequester carbon, but it can also build back the structure of the soil so that all of the Earth’s most amazing and complete ecosystem can be in abundance.

We’ve all heard of photosynthesis—the process whereby Carbon Dioxide and water are converted into sugars and Oxygen with the aid of sunlight and Chlorophyll. However, we seldom observe the processes that take place beyond that.

During plant photosynthesis, 30-40% of the liquid sugars it makes leaks out of its roots to feed microbes. In exchange for the sugars provided by the plant, soil microbes in turn feed the plant—in a process that builds soil. The continued consumption of exudates as well as death of fungi create stable humus, which is how carbon is stored in the soil long term.

Carbon in the soil acts like your own home carbon water filter: it captures heavy metals and toxins that are unwanted in the water supply, reduces the need for toxic chemicals, and as a result, prevents the contamination of our watersheds.

Nature is designed to create a net carbon gain in the soil, and the goal here is to bring soil back into the soil/ground. To do this, we need to strategically build soil and adopt regenerative agricultural techniques and practices. Right now, sustainability won’t be enough. Sustaining what has already been degenerated doesn’t make sense; we need to regenerate first, then sustain after we’ve regenerated.

So how can we practice regenerative agriculture to increase the carbon sequestration capabilities of our soil?

5 Principles of Regenerative Agriculture—most of which can even be implemented at home!:

1. Least Disturbance/No-Till

In farming, it’s always been customary to till the soil. However, the process of tilling rips the soil’s fungal networks to shreds—breaking apart soil aggregates, leaving soil structure weak and prone to wind and water erosion. Tilling removes residue and root penetration in the soil that keep the soil intact and help for water infiltration. Tilling exposes carbon based aggregates, microbes, and hyphie to the oxygen allowing them to turn into CO2. This makes it complex for soil ecosystems to thrive.

One Teaspoon of healthy soil can hold more organisms than there are humans on planet earth. By destroying soil, we simultaneously destroy the birthplace of life forms and few places for CO2 to be stored.

2. Living Root

Keeping living roots in the ground for as long as possible provides a steady source of food for organisms in the soil. As a result, soil microorganisms help prevent soil erosion, increase water infiltration rates, and provide plants with key nutrients.

3. Soil Armor/Cover Crops

One of the biggest issues of farming is leaving our soil bare. As Judith Schwartz once said, “when soil is left bare, water evaporates, carbon oxidizes, and microorganisms die.” When soil is 70 degrees, all moisture is used for plant growth. When soil temperature reaches 100 degrees, only 15% is available for plant growth. At 130 degrees, all moisture is lost. And when the soil surface reaches 140 degrees, the microorganisms die out.

Every time we leave the soil bare we are only losing opportunity to pull carbon into the soil via photosynthesis and we are actively burning the soil aggregates turning soil carbon into CO2 by allowing it to oxidize (connecting carbon with oxygen through the burning process.)

Additionally, we are cutting off the “food” supply (photosynthesizing plants) to feed the organisms that keep the soil system functioning. Leaving soil uncovered also makes it susceptible to major water and wind erosion. When soil is covered, it is shaded and much less heat is in direct contact with the soil. The presence of cover crops reduces erosion and helps lower soil temperatures.

4. Animal Integration

Including animals in the farming system closes nutrient loops and reduces the need for imported fertilisers. Fertilisers create Nitrous Oxide, a very potent greenhouse gas, which further contributes to global warming and climate change. However, deciding which species to incorporate depends on the farm’s unique ecosystem and climate.

5. Increased Biodiversity

Growing a diversity of plants helps cultivate nutrient dense soil, increase soil carbon, and reduce the risk of pests and disease. This is in contrast to monocropping, whereby farmland is dedicated to producing a single crop—thus depleting the soil’s nutrients over time.

But I’m not a farmer. How does this apply to me?

To quote The Slow Factory, "Soil is the basis of fiber and food systems, and our futures are rooted in restoring and strengthening our relationships with each other and with the soil ecosystem." By starting with the food we consume, we can invest in systems that we want to support and that revitalise our environment. This involves:

Knowing your food source. Be it purchasing from companies that are transparent with their food sourcing and are investing in soil health with their food chain or shopping at farmers markets where you can ask your local farmer about their farming practices, it’s important to ensure that your food is produced responsibly.
Grow your own. Growing your own food means that you can take charge of applying regenerative agriculture techniques.
Compost. Not only does composting significantly reduce food waste, but it can serve as a nutrient-dense fertiliser when returned to the Earth, which furthermore accelerates the process of carbon sequestration in the soil.
Choose meat/dairy that’s regenerating the land. IF you’ve read this article but continue to eat meat—for whatever reason that may be—make sure to source your meat from ranchers who are utilising regenerative models of production. Support businesses that are restoring soils and native grasslands, taking good care of their animals, and sequestering carbon through healthy soil practices and holistic management. If you use the same meat budget that you currently have, but align your meat purchases with animal and planetary welfare principles, then you will find that you naturally consume much less of it.
Know your annuals and perennials. Annuals live for one growing season and require more energy to grow and manage. This includes most foods in our diets, including corn, beans, wheat, rice, potatoes, carrot, lettuce. Perennials are plants that live longer than two years—some even hundreds of years (trees and bushes)! They tend to establish deep roots in the soil, enabling them to draw more carbon in. While perennials are generally better for the environment, keep in mind that not all perennial farms are created equal, and it’s important to choose from farms that are implementing healthy soil practices and regenerative techniques to take care of the land and soil.
Go Beyond food. While the food we consume has obvious links to soil, many of our other choices can either positively or negatively impact the environment. This extends to clothing—where ideally, we support fibres grown in farming systems that regenerate land, such as hemp, organic cotton, wool—as opposed to synthetic fibres such as polyester, nylon, and rayon. We should also avoid synthetic fibres derived from plastic as these can break down in the washing machine and contaminate our wastewater with microfibres, in the process releasing little pieces of plastic into delicate ecosystems.
With cosmetics, we should support locally-produced cosmetics that contain easily recognisable, eco-friendly ingredients. With sanitary items, use those that are organic, chlorine-free, or reusable, as conventional pads and tampons contain pesticides, harmful dyes and toxins. Here is an article that touches more on harmful toxins present in sanitary items and alternatives in Hong Kong. The same goes for cleaning supplies: we should focus on using high quality, natural ingredients from farms that committed to building healthy soil. Trash is for Tossers has many guides on making DIY home cleaners.

All in all, healthy soil can pose several benefits—to the environment, human health, and biodiversity. Building soil can help reverse climate change, and the idea of pumping atmospheric carbon back into the ground has long been missing from the climate equation. To quote FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt), “A nation that destroys its soil Destroys Itself.” And as a parallel from CRO (Calla Rose Ostrander), “A nation that rebuilds its soil rebuilds itself.”