5.Soil Contamination.

With the rise of concrete buildings and roads, one part of the Earth that we rarely see is the soil.

The plants that feed us grow in soil and keeping it healthy is essential to maintaining a beautiful planet.

However, like all other forms of nature, soil also suffers from pollution. The main reason why the soil becomes contaminated is due to the presence of man made elements. The waste products are full of chemicals that are not originally found in nature and lead to soil pollution.

Main Causes of Soil Pollution:

1. Industrial Activity

Industrial activity has been the biggest contributor to the problem in the last century, especially since the amount of mining and manufacturing has increased. Whether it is iron ore or coal, the by products are contaminated and they are not disposed off in a manner that can be considered safe. As a result, the industrial waste lingers in the soil surface for a long time and makes it unsuitable for use.2. Agricultural Activities Chemical utilization has gone up tremendously since technology provided us with modern pesticides and fertilizers. They are full of chemicals that are not produced in nature and cannot be broken down by it. As a result, they seep into the ground after they mix with water and slowly reduce the fertility of the soil. Plants absorb many of these pesticides and when they decompose, they cause soil pollution since they become a part of the land. 3.Accidental Oil Spills: Oil leaks can happen during storage and transport of chemicals. This can be seen at most of the fuel stations. The chemicals present in the fuel deteriorates the quality of soil and make them unsuitable for cultivation. These chemicals can enter into the groundwater through soil and make the water undrinkable. 4.Acid Rain: Acid rain is caused when pollutants present in the air mixes up with the rain and fall back on the ground. The polluted water could dissolve away some of the important nutrients found in soil and change the structure of it.

Types of waste:

Hazardous waste - Waste that is dangerous or potentially harmful to our health or the environment.

There are: Liquids, solids or gases. Also there are special wastes: batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment, and so on. It’s clear that wastes can be discarded commercial products, like cleaning fluids or pesticides, or the by-products of manufacturing processes. Non-Hazardous Waste - Municipal solid waste and non-hazardous industrial waste. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) — more commonly known as trash or garbage—consists of everyday items we use and then throw away, such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, e.t.c. This comes from our homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses.

6.Ecological Footprint: what it is. Environmental Organizations ( Baltic 21, wwf, Greenpeace, other)

The ecological footprint is a resource accounting tool that measures how much biologically productive land and sea is used by a given population or activity, and compares this to how much land and sea is available. Productive land and sea areas support human demands for food, fiber, timber, energy, and space for infrastructure.

These areas also absorb the waste products from the human economy. The Ecological Footprint measures the sum of these areas, wherever they physically occur on the planet. The Ecological Footprint is used widely as a management and communication tool by governments, businesses, educational institutions, and non-governmental organizations. Ecological Footprint accounts answer a specific research question: how much of the biological capacity of the planet is demanded by a given human activity or population? To answer this question, the Ecological Footprint measures the amount of biologically productive land and water area an individual, a city, a country, a region, or all of humanity uses to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates with today’s technology and resource management practices. This demand on the biosphere can be compared to biocapacity, a measure of the amount of biologically productive land and water available for human use. Biologically productive land includes areas such as cropland, forest, and fishing grounds, and excludes deserts, glaciers, and the open ocean.

There are a lot of different, non-binding organizations which play their own role in saving environment.

Baltic 21 Initiated by the Prime Ministers of the Baltic Sea countries in 1996, Baltic 21 is a regional expression of the global Agenda 21 adopted by the United Nations “Earth Summit.”

sustainable development in the Baltic Sea Region by coordinating goals and activities, and by serving as a forum for cooperation across borders and between stakeholder groups.

GREENPEACE is a non-governmental [3] environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. [4] Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity"[5] and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues. It uses direct action, lobbying, and research to achieve its goals.