---
title: Salt Life
date: 2025-01-15T09:45:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/salt-life"
section: Articles
---
# Salt Life

*January 15, 2025* — by [Chris Carroll](/authors/chris-carroll)


- *Illustrations by Valerie Morgan*

> Take a Home Tour to Learn How We’re Worsening Salinity Around the World

*house with fertilizer, salt shaker, cleaning products, cinder block and ice melt*

We’re a salty bunch.

From birth to death, the average American consumes nearly 14 tons of sodium chloride, or table salt, a number that just scratches the surface of the volume of “salts,” broadly speaking, that society uses, says geology Professor Sujay Kaushal. His research shows how humans are making the Earth’s surface saltier by digging up increasing volumes of these minerals.

“Salts of various kinds are used in agriculture, in construction materials—places people don’t necessarily expect,” he says. “The problem is that they hit these thresholds in the environment where they’re hurting aquatic ecosystems, and also affecting human health.”

Just like in our diets, some of this salt is necessary, but Kaushal—who’s called for better management to limit damage—has a few suggestions for cutting back.



### CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS


*fertilizer*



### FOOD


*salt shaker*



### CLEANING PRODUCTS


*cleaning products*



### BUILDING MATERIALS


*cinder block*



### DE-ICERS


*ice melt*




**Issue:** [Winter 2025](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/winter-2025)


**Types:** [Explorations](https://terp.umd.edu/category/explorations)