Everything that we use comes from soil. Let's look at one example here. A shoe. You can look at any other thing around you. Living or non-living. chairs, computers, pencils, food, plastic baskets, bags, books. You will discover that we depend as much on soil as on air and water. Become an investigative environmentalist, and rediscover the world around you. The metal used in shoes for buckles and hole reinforcement comes from mines inside the earth. The leather in your shoes comes from cows or any other animal. This animal eats plants that grow on land. The soles are made of plastic that is derived from petroleum. A fossilised form of old trees and animals, buried in soil. The laces in your shoes are made of cotton which grows in the soil. Make your own soil Gather dead leaves, small twigs, flower petals, other small plant material, lot of small stones, pebbles and sand. Put all this in a small thick canvas or denim bag. Hit this bag with a hammer until the stones are broken down. This is called weathering of rocks. In nature, this happens by the heat of the sun, force of the wind and rain. Remove from the bag, place in a pot, and add water. (Air is automatically added.) Repeat this process until you have enough soil to fill a small cup or flower pot. Plant seeds in your soil and other seeds in natural soil. Observe and compare the growth. While doing this keep in mind that making soil is not this easy in nature. It can take 15 to 300 years to make one inch of topsoil.

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