Drought Drives Southern CA to Pay Residents to Stop the Lawn Madness

And entrepreneurs, like those interviewed at Turf Terminators, also benefit from the rebates.

Here’s the (short) account from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2014/08/15/340700404/southern-california-cities-ask-residents-to-scrap-water-guzzling-lawns

A Podcast on the Subject of Lawns

I found the part about how lawns came to be popularized in the United States very interesting.

Check it out: http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/how-grass-works-yes-how-grass-works/

Poison in the Drinking Water

Runoff has created a huge debacle in Ohio:

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/03/3467068/toledo-ohio-water-crisis/

Algae blooms happen, but humans contribute to the extreme severity of this one. According to the article:

“Experts say one of the biggest reasons for the severity of this algal bloom is excess phosphorus runoff from urban and industrial agricultural lands, as well as from waste water from sewage treatment plants. NOAA notes that this increased runoff into the lake is largely due to poor farming practices, such as high use of fertilizers and presence of livestock near water supplies. Pesticides also impact the blooms, NOAA says.”

I wish the new media would talk about the potential contribution of lawn fertilizer. Farmers have, over time, learned how to target the least amount of fertilizer to their lands to minimize cost and run-off. The average lawn owner possesses no such expertise.

The Anti-Lawn Manifesto

A disparate set of organizations alert the lawn-loving public to the dangers of herbicides OR fertilizers OR overuse of water, and so forth, but they tend to focus on one of the above and then assure everyone, “But you can still achieve that beautiful lawn with this subset of organic products…”

We hope to a) compile, in no particular order, a (working)  and pithy list of the problems with cosmetically-enhanced lawns and b) push back against the idea that everyone should aspire to a wildly unnatural lawn that looks like this:

Huge Problem #1: PESTICIDES AND HERBICIDES

I promise your time will be well spent reading the entirety of this enlightening fact sheet from Beyond Pesticides. For the Reader’s Digest types out there, here are some highlights:

• Worse than agriculture- “Suburban lawns and gardens receive more pesticide applications per acre (3.2-9.8 lbs) than agriculture (2.7 lbs per acre on average).”
• Bad for our health. Like, really bad for our health- “Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides 19 have studies pointing toward carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 15 with neurotoxicity, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 27 are sensitizers and/or irritants, and 11 have the potential to disrupt the endocrine (hormonal) system.”
• Don’t stay put- “Scientific studies find pesticide residues such as the weedkiller 2,4-D and the insecticide carbaryl inside homes, due to drift and track-in, where they contaminate air, dust, surfaces and carpets and expose children at levels ten times higher than preapplication levels.”
• Children, pets, and wildlife are most vulnerable to exposure (see Fact Sheet for specifics.)
• In our water- “Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides, 17 are detected in groundwater, and 23 have the potential to leach.”
• Laws and “regulations” are on the side of the chemical industry (again, see Fact Sheet.)

And then there are the ingredients we don’t even know about:

• “Pesticide products are made of an active ingredient and several inert, or other, ingredients. Inert ingredients are neither chemically, biologically nor toxicologically inert. Inerts are not disclosed to the public due to their status as ‘trade secrets’.”

If cancer, birth defects, and wildlife destruction didn’t convince you, then you are one tough customer. But wait, there’s more…

Unmitigated Catastrophe #2: FERTILIZERS

Americans liberally apply an estimated 3 million tons of inorganic fertilizer on our lawns each year. We must not read the ingredients label (“[T]he nitrogen used in synthetic fertilizers is commonly processed from ammonia. Often, to facilitate slow-release lawn fertilizers, ammonia is mixed with urea and formaldehyde, or it’s encased in sulfur or a synthesized polymer, some of them suspected endocrine disruptors.“) or care about how it leaches into our groundwater and lakes, contaminating our drinking water and causing eutropication in coastal areas and lakes. Who needs fish, anyway?

Unnecessary Waste #3: WATER, WATER, WATER

The epitome of waste–a sprinkler on in the rain

The world faces an ever-worsening water shortage, and we use 30 to 60 percent of urban fresh water is used for watering lawns (depending on the city.)

Total Disaster #4: LAWN MOWERS

(All facts found here.)

In addition to mowing being a crappy way to spend a Sunday afternoon, according the the EPA, gas mowers are responsible for 5% of U.S. Air pollution, guzzling a grand total of 800 millions gallons of gas annually. Indeed, driving a new gas-powered lawn mower for one hour produces the same level of pollution as driving a new car for 11 hours.

And let’s not forget human stupidity. Clumsy folks refueling their mowers spill an estimated 17 million gallons of fuel, which exceeds the amount of oil spewed in the Exxon Valdez disaster.

Absurd Fiasco #5: NONNATIVE GRASSES

Now for the really crazy part, the reason why our lawns require so much TLC…

WE PLANT NONNATIVE GRASSES.

According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, based out of the University of Texas Austin, “Americans love their lawns. But most of them are non-native grasses like St. Augustine that succumbs easily to pests and disease, or bermudagrass that needs constant mowing and can be invasive, or Kentucky bluegrass that needs a lot of water…As a solution, Wildflower Center ecologist Mark Simmons has been leading research on a mixture of drought-adapted native grasses that cut down on mowing, watering, weeding and feeding…Put together in a multi-species mix, these native grass species can provide the same appearance and function as non-native monocultures, without requiring a massive input of weed killer and watering, and with much lower rates of mowing.” Wow, what a shockingly simple solution.

In a post for the Scientific American, Ferris Jabr makes a stellar point about how the monoculture of lawns extends the practice of the rightly criticized agribusiness sector. He writes, “Across the country, native pollinators have been dying for many years, primarily because we have replaced so much of their once diverse natural habitat with vast swaths of monoculture: acres and acres of a single crop, many of which—corn and wheat, for instance—are poor sources of the pollen and nectar insects eat. Likewise, I had recently learned, weed-free flowerless grass lawns are monoculture in microcosm; they, too, are wastelands for pollinators, offering no nourishment of any kind.” He closes, “We associate a lush green lawn with vitality, but in many ways a grass lawn is the most sterile part of a garden.”

Tragic Truth #6: AND PEOPLE DON’T EVEN USE THESE LAWNS, ANYWAY

After people procure a pristine lawn, they avoid adversely affecting its altered appearance by, God forbid, using it for its intended purposes, like kicking a ball around, playing badminton, or building forts out of sticks and mud, which makes this entire destructive exercise all the more pointless.

In conclusion

Take a good look at this chunk of yard.

It certainly contrasts the impossibly green and thick expanse pictured earlier in the post. But, equipped with the knowledge of the damage imparted by pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, watering, mowing, and the insistence on nonnative grass species, I harbor a new appreciation for lawns like this one. I now notice them on my walks and runs and think, “Here lives a rational individual.”

If any of this spoke to you, please periodically check back to this site. We have some modest and wholly inadequate plans for getting the word out about the dark side of lawn care.