Carbon is an essential element in all living organisms. The carbon cycle is the transferring of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air or water by plants through photosynthesis (solar energy). A carbon atom makes this journey about once every three years. Carbon can be transferred from plants to algae, to shellfish to animals that feed on the shellfish and respired back into the air as CO2. It can also be released into the atmosphere by combustion of fossil fuels. It takes millions of years for carbon to come from sediment of algae and phytoplankton. However, we take that form and transfer

it into fuels for our automobiles by combustion, known as fossil fuel use. According to my calculations in the ‘Carbon Calculator’, my usage of gasoline alone puts, on the average, 2,880 pounds of carbon in the air every year! With all the home oil, gasoline, and electricity I use, I put over 25,000 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. It would take over a thousand trees to remove my family’s CO2 alone. So, not only are we interfering with this cycle by burning fossil fuels, but we are also being counterproductive by cutting down forests.

Nitrogen (N) is an essential component to living organisms, fourth behind oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. The nitrogen cycle is a complex one. Nitrogen is essential to living organisms however it cannot be used in its natural state and must be converted to mineral form for use. It must first be “fixed”, that is pulled from the air and converted into an inorganic compound such as ammonium (NH4) and nitrate (NO3). It can then be used and recycled through the food chain.

Phosphorus (P) is “a natural element found in rocks, soils and our own bodies!” (Phosphorus Pollution). It is essential for animals and plants and is a common ingredient, as is nitrogen, in fertilizers. Some sources of phosphorus are eroded soil, leaves and grass clippings, garbage, human and animal waste, lawn fertilizer and pesticides. It is transferred from rocks and soil minerals as it breaks down. It is absorbed by plants and moves through the food chain (into organic phosphate) to animals and

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