Waste Equals Food - Essay Example

Human influence significantly affects the cycle through which nature replenishes itself. The human practices introduce a model through which the nature cycle becomes obstructed. The substances humans pick from nature cannot safely return into the natural cycle developing a closed-end. The writer also identifies the demarcation of substances into two material flow pathways.

These are technical and biological pathways. Of late, human advancement has blended the two pathways with the result of obstructing both. This is through the creation of hybrids that can neither benefit the biological pathway, nor the technical pathway. A banana peel may undergo different processes depending on its mode of disposal. When placed in a landfill, the organic matter remains in a form that is not reusable by nature. The landfill contains other contaminants that make the peel not to be salvaged by either the biological process or the technical process.

The benefits obtainable from the peel become unrecoverable. When placed in a compost pile, however, the peel forms the raw material for microorganisms that salvage the carbohydrates present. This way, the peel undergoes decomposition to release minerals, which replenish the soil (Picq et al 34). The authors’ main objective is to caution the human race from entangling in processes that do not promote continuous replenishment of the earth. In their view, the earth is the source and should be protected to promote life.

Several practices by humans, however, interrupt the earth’s life cycle and contribute to adverse effects. With the advent of modernization and increasing population, agricultural practices vary from the ancient methodologies with a marked increase in the use of chemicals in farming. Though more food than ever is produced, the practices leave the earth vulnerable to erosion, and the death of natural fauna. Chemicals used in farming end up killing the beneficial microorganisms thus interrupting the natural ecosystem.