Green Speaker Series: Phosphorus

The topic of the May Green Speaker Series talk is phosphorus, which is a critical limiting nutrient in agriculture, but in high concentrations is also an environmental pollutant.  For generations, we have been mining phosphorus from the earth's crust, using it for industrial and agricultural purposes, and losing large amounts to the ocean through inefficient application.  Reserves are now diminishing, and geopolitical instability in two of the three main phosphorus-producing nations is increasing.  Peak phosphorus, like peak oil, is likely to occur in the coming 50 years. 

Fortunately, the solution to both supply and pollution problems lies in a single answer - improved efficiency and recycling.  For a sustainable phosphorus future, in the short term we can make changes in our personal lifestyles, and in the long term we can help motivate our communities towards the necessary infrastructural and technological changes.  

Our speaker, Froggi VanRiper, just returned from the 3rd global Sustainable Phosphorus Summit in Sydney, Australia.  Representatives from all sides of the discussion were present, and together they drafted a global blueprint for sustainable phosphorus.  Froggi will talk about how this issue pertains to us as individual citizens, and what we can do about it.