As mentioned in week 11's lecture, pollution prevention is better than 'curing' pollutants after their release into the environment. The responses to soil pollution (as outlined in the DPSIR framework) must focus on preventive measures that address the driving forces and pressures from human activities. As I've covered in this blog, the demand for human needs from food, electronics, energy, clothing, medicines, and plastics drives all types of pollution, including soil pollution. These human needs are projected to increase with a growing world population and increased industrialization.
The major industries that supply human needs, from energy and mining to agriculture and fashion require a systemic transformation towards one that operates within planetary boundaries. The shift toward a more sustainable economy is not only about reducing greenhouse gas emissions or the transition to a 'low-carbon' society. It is imperative to reduce all forms of environmental pollution including minimizing the use of hazardous and toxic chemicals or pollutants that cause air, water or soil pollution.
Along with industry transformation, envisioning a change in our consumption-driven economies is required to fundamentally reorient the economic system. As Kate Raworth argues in her book Doughnut Economics, neo-classical economic theory developed post World War is outdated for the 21st century. Green growth and circular economy paradigms will simply be technical tools, if not followed by dematerialization and tackling luxury pollution. In other words, "we cannot consume or recycle" our way out of pollution problems. Even sustainable alternatives have an environmental footprint, and decoupling GDP growth (material and resource use) and environmental degradation are not feasible (Ward et al., 2016).
Juliet B Schor outlines how overconsumption deepens inequalities, which further perpetuates environmental injustice and vulnerability to pollution. A political ecology approach to combatting environmental pollution is worth mentioning here. It is a framework that questions dominant environmental narratives and solutions that ignore broader political and economic forces that drive power imbalances and environmental injustice (Robbins, 2012).
How can this mindset be incorporated into solutions to saving our soil? Following are the broad actions needed to tackle this issue, covering green alternatives, policy and economic incentives. (In a previous post, I mentioned the international agreements that can push soil pollution on the national and international agenda for policymakers.)
1) E-waste: With countries imposing stricter rules on the dumping of e-waste, there is a need for upstream actions to reduce the amount of e-waste generated. For example, policies that disincentivize planned obsolescence and recognize the right to repair can reduce waste significantly. As recycling rates of e-waste remain low, there exist opportunities to build a circular economy to reuse precious and rare minerals in electronic products. Initiatives like Now Circular have recently popped up in Singapore, where you can rent electronics instead of buying, thus promoting a circular economy model. I've also begun to see more e-waste recycling points across Singapore, which is a great way to encourage the public to recycle their e-waste instead of it going to general waste where it could be incinerated or exported.
2) Microplastics: The production and consumption of single-use and unnecessary plastics need to be reduced. especially in packaging. In Singapore, the pandemic saw a meteoric rise in food packaging due to takeaways. Promoting reusables and sustainable packaging alternatives is key. Microplastics used in cosmetic products can also be phased out.
3) Fashion: The fashion industry utilizes many chemicals to produce cheap clothing in order to keep up with the demands of fast fashion. Using sustainable leather alternatives like mushroom leather reduces the need for tannery chemicals like chromium sulfate. Although the social and environmental perils of fast fashion have been long-known, the success and growth of fast-fashion chains like Shein raise questions about why we are moving toward an ultra-fast fashion model instead of slow fashion. Government policies need to endorse well-regulated and ethical practices that consider pollution and soil degradation.
4) Agriculture: As mentioned in my posts about agricultural fertilisers and pesticides, there are complex socio-economic and political reasons for the entrenched global dependence on agrochemicals (Hu, 2020). Farmers cannot be solely blamed, as the overuse of these chemicals are driven by a profit-driven industrial agriculture system they are embedded in. Faced with declining crop yields due to issues like the climate crisis and pest resistance leads to a cyclical dependence on pesticides. However, there are studies that show economic potential for agroecological methods such as organic farming and IPM that reduce the need for chemical pesticides. Economic and policy incentives are needed to successfully scale and fund research on environmentally friendly agriculture.
5) Industry and mining: Industrial and mining processes need to be made more environmentally friendly and just through national and international regulations and their enforcement. Greater investment into green chemistry research and development is needed. For example, exploring mercury-free technologies for gold mining.
References
Hu, Zhanping. (2020). “What Socio-Economic and Political Factors Lead to Global Pesticide Dependence? A Critical Review from a Social Science Perspective.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 (21): 8119. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218119.
Schor, J. (2014, July 29). The New Politics of Consumption. Boston Review. https://bostonreview.net/forum/juliet-b-schor-new-politics-consumption/
Robbins, P. (2012). Ch.1: Political versus Apolitical Ecologies. In Political Ecology: A Critical
Introduction. 3rd ed., pp. 11–24. Wiley.
Simon, F., & Taylor, K. (2022, March 31). Brussels targets greenwashing, planned obsolescence in new EU consumer rules. Www.Euractiv.Com. https://www.euractiv.com/section/circular-economy/news/brussels-targets-greenwashing-planned-obsolescence-in-new-eu-consumer-rules/
Ward, James D., Paul C. Sutton, Adrian D. Werner, Robert Costanza, Steve H. Mohr, and Craig T. Simmons. (2016). “Is Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact Possible?” PLOS ONE 11 (10): e0164733. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164733.
Williams, D. (2022, April 10). Shein: the unacceptable face of throwaway fast fashion. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/apr/10/shein-the-unacceptable-face-of-throwaway-fast-fashion?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR3T6XaD_nyzGnJUn4RZdjJ6LVUpjEzOsHPqGoJY0cj5_3kLQcPf1zKR0ZE