EJQ6 - Fall 2025 - Journal - Page 3
The Alchemy of Terra Firma
Connie Vitello
is Editor of
Environment
Journal.
SOIL IS A LIVING TAPESTRY beneath our feet and below our buildings. Every grain tells a
story—of weathered rock, fallen leaves, and ancient life. It’s too often overlooked, but
soil is nature’s foundation. It is both cradle and grave, beginning and end, holding the
memory of the past and the promise for the future.
Soil is quite literally crucial for sustaining life as we know it, supporting over 95 per
cent of human food production and housing a quarter of Earth’s organisms in its
complex ecosystem. The alchemy of soil involves complex biological and chemical
processes that transform raw materials into nutrients essential for plant growth. It’s
also a vital 昀椀lter for water and air and it regulates our climate. Healthy soils can better
sequester carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
There’s no debate about soil being a precious and non-renewable resource. So why
aren’t we on solid ground when it comes to
protecting it?
Federal policy makers are working on
solutions. Earlier this year, the Canadian
Council of Ministers of the Environment
(CCME) released Excess Soil Reuse Guidance,
a reference tool for jurisdictions implementing
an excess soil reuse framework for their soil
management policies. The 51-page document
POWERING CANADA’S
PATH TO NET-ZERO
E N V I RON M E N T J OURN A L QUA RT E RLY RE PORT • FA L L 2 02 5 • P AGE 3
