People ruin soil by burying hazardous wastes and garbage in it. They spray soil with chemicals to kill weeds. They add harmful substances called pollutants to land. Trash like plastic that doesn’t decay makes soil unusable. When people grow the same crops every year, it depletes the nutrients in soil. If plants are removed, wind and rain will expose soil to erosion. Another cause is allowing cattle to graze too long in the same spot. The soil is exposed whenever a(n) forest is cut down.