My first foray into the environment happened where I grew up, in the suburbs of Richmond, VA. Runoff from fertilizer had infiltrated a beautiful lake in the poorer part of town. This lake was part of an education center. Within mere months, an algal mass coated the surface of the lake, nearly killing every living thing under it by blocking the sun. The nearby trees were also worse for wear at this point. In months, a small ecosystem (one that was tended to by students over many years) was obliterated. That summer, my classmates and I planted trees, scraped algae, and took samples. I could never quite get that image out of my head. These systems are both more fragile and stronger than I gave them credit for. 

That was also the summer I learned about the tragedy of the commons. Who pays for dead zones? How can we change this status quo? One group of people I know who are tackling this are the broadly speaking “green fertilizer” companies – Pivot, Kula. Who else is thinking about this?