The Grass is not Greener...

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The Grass is not Greener…

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Part of my role as a writer and a blogger is to make people aware of trends that increase freshwater scarcity before it rears its ugly head. I have accompliased my goal with micro and nano plastics as well as PFAS, both of which are frequently now headline news. My role is not to appease people and tell them what they want to hear; rather, it the search for truth with integrity and then to offer a solution when I have it in my sights.?

Warning: if you are an avid golfer or take pride in your manicured grass lawn, please don’t take the contents personally. From my vantage point, it is what it is- a big, fat looming problem that will affect the west and the southwestern U.S.?

Eight years ago, I did some extensive research on landscapers and discovered a landscaper that billed themselves out as organic. I had a couple of motivating factors for this. One, I didn’t want my landscaper using deadly pesticides and chemical to treat my lawn, especially for dandelions. I learned that dandelion greens and roots were one of the top ten superfoods, and it was free, if not contaminated by weed killers. Two, I really didn’t want my grandchildren, children, and pets being exposed to something that could have a serious impact on their health.

Everything was going to plan until last spring. The landscapers were doing a spring clean-up and I just happened to be working from home that day. I went outside to ask the landscaper’s opinion of where I should plant two recently purchased rose bushes. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted one of the men with a large, white plastic container spraying some weeds with a nozzle.

The landscaper continued. “Well, I wouldn’t put them there yet,” pointing to the exact location I had in mind.”

“Why not?” I naively asked. His response chilled me to the bone on a warm spring day. “We just sprayed Roundup over there, and you have to let it settle in for about ten days.”

I froze. “Thanks for your advice,” as I deliberately walked to the sliding door and shut it behind me. If there was ever a time that I could stroke out, it was then. It didn’t end well for the owner of the landscaping company either. I fired them on the spot. My next purchase was an electric lawnmower, and I went without a landscaper for the next two years, happily mowing my lawn about every ten days.????????

Grass lawns are notorious water hogs and loaded with unforgiving pesticides and herbicides, not to mention that the water you’re spraying on your lawns and gardens could be loaded with PFAS and microplastics. Typically, grass requires more than?half a gallon?of water per square foot. With homeowners watering their lawns?multiple times a week, this can add up to thousands of gallons and?dollars’ worth of water annually, depending on yard size.?A five-hundred square foot lawn uses 67,500 gallons of water per year.

??????????? The sad truth is that anywhere from 33-50% of the average residential water usage is for landscaping, and that water is polluted with weedkillers and bug resistant pesticides. Let’s assume the lower figure:?one-third?of residential water usage goes toward landscaping. That equates to?9 billion gallons?a day across the U.S., or approximately $3.285 trillion gallons annually. If you happen to live in the Great Lakes region, watering your lawn shouldn’t keep you up at night. However, if your residence is in the western half of the U.S., you might start sleeping with one eye open after reading this.

??????????? People that own homes with grass lawns have a choice. We can use more freshwater, load the water tables with poison, and a continue the unconscious carbon footprint that is caused by maintaining our lawns. If you don’t want to take my word for it, check out this article:

https://news.vumc.org/2024/05/06/second-most-used-herbicide-in-the-us-linked-to-birth-defect-in-national-study/

??????????? Or we could consider a better alternative and do away with grass lawns and golf courses that require huge sums of water and pesticides galore to keep the courses looking well-manicured. If you are at all concerned about freshwater shortages caused by over usage and pollution, then the next right thing to do is replace your grass lawns with more sustainable and more drought-resistant native plants, some of which can be used for food foraging. The same native plants act as a source of food and shelter for natural pollinators that increase food production.

??????????? Grass lawns are unsustainable and expensive, notwithstanding the carbon emissions and long-term damage it does to the ecosystem because of fertilizers and gas-powered lawnmowers. In fact, running the average gas-powered lawnmower for an hour produces 11x more emissions than running a new, non-EV car for the same duration. And according to a University of California-Irvine study, greenhouse gas emissions due to lawn care is 4x larger than the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere by grass lawns. Even the production and distribution of lawn chemicals and water used for irrigation adds additional CO2 to the environment and the food chain.

The future consists of local and state governments offering subsidies to replace or alter your grass lawn with drought-friendly alternatives through rebate programs, thereby increasing your savings even further. Let’s give the state of Utah a hand. Residents can earn up to $3/square foot replacing “non-functional turf”?through a program that began in mid-2023. Never mind that the goal is to save Utah’s lakes from devastating droughts, and who knows if the tipping point has already come and passed them by.

??????????? California also offers turf rebates, but its program appears to be weak and provides little incentive for homeowners to change. Their rebate covers 50% of landscape design fees up to $250. For equipment and materials, citizens of California may be reimbursed for between $250-$750, which includes pre-approved irrigation equipment as well as planting labor, and artificial turf materials. Depending upon where you live in California, there are rebates for installing artificial turf with a cap.

??????????? Artificial turf? Here’s something to chew on. “The manufacturing, installation, service, and disposal of a 2-acre artificial turf field facility is responsible for 55.6 tons of carbon dioxide, in addition to other greenhouse gases and pollutants.” That’s the environmental equivalent of giving incentive to produce blue as opposed to green hydrogen, even though blue hydrogen uses damaging fossil fuels like oil and natural gas.

??????????? Where do we go with all this information and how can we be part of the solution? Hopefully, other states and municipalities will follow suit and take the lead from Utah. I would start by lobbying state and local governments, which is what I’m about to do in my own state. Even the town you live in might be willing to listen. The leadership required to have the desired effect is to be the first one in your neighborhood or on your street to make the switch.

??????????? You may want to consult a trusted landscaper and/or a landscape or horticultural center. Certain ones may even offer free classes, such as the Chicago Botanical Gardens near my home. Either way, there’s no time like the present to change your behavior, if not for yourself than for the greater good.

I’d love to hear your feedback and/or questions. Please feel free to email me at [email protected]