This benefit is removed when the organisms are killed by chemicals.

In healthy soil, as beneficial bacteria and fungi reproduce, thrive and decay, the process sequesters carbon and naturally feeds the plants.

Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are also biocides - meaning they kill bacteria and fungi in the soil, including the good ones that make up the normal, healthy microbiome. Pesticides are worse than fertilizer, requiring 10 times more energy to synthesize. Their manufacture releases greenhouse gases and toxins into the air, and their use contributes to making agriculture the second-largest source of climate pollution. Derived from hydrocarbons, petrochemicals are the basic ingredient in synthetic pesticides and fertilizers (and plastics, but that’s another story). Petrochemical production and sales have doubled since 2000, and the market is expected to double again over the next 10 years according to the Global Chemical Outlook published by the United Nations. Gardeners and homeowners have to do their part in walking that back. As renewable energy and electric cars are gaining a foothold, oil and gas companies are filling the void by ramping up petrochemical production, and that includes pesticides and fertilizers. How did you get that lush green lawn and bug-free garden? If you’re like many Americans, you got it through the use of synthetic weed killers, bug killers and fertilizers. None of these activities were the worst contribution to climate change in your backyard.

When you fired up your gas grill last weekend, threw on two juicy steaks, sipped water out of convenient plastic bottles and cranked up the heat in the pool to take off the chill, did you suffer a pang of guilt about your carbon footprint? Fear not.

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