Three Ways Artificial Grass Benefits the Environment

In a time when the earth’s resources seem to be diminishing with each passing year, it is important that we all become environmentally conscious and make changes to further reduce environmental damage. Many people don’t realize that living in a home with a yard (which requires constant maintenance) is actually an environmental hazard. The water, chemicals and gas-powered lawn tools used for proper care of a traditional yard is poisoning the planet and thwarting water conservation efforts. One of the most effective, environmentally beneficial remedies is to go green by replacing your yard with an artificial grass lawn.

CONSTANT CARE AND CHEMICALS

If you want to have a lusciously green yard, without pests and issues, it not only takes constant care and upkeep and money out of your pocket, it also means fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals will have to be used. And while these lab-created chemicals might ward off pests or make your lawn grow 2x faster and greener, one must realize where all those chemicals go after they have done their work in your yard. These chemicals end up as runoff pollution into local streams, rivers ponds, and lakes. Chemical nutrients left over from this fertilizer runoff can cause algae blooms which grow so large they have been known to block waterways. After time, these algae blooms die and remove the oxygen from the water. This creates what is known as deadzones, which is a growing issue in the United States and around the world. Likewise, the use of chemicals in lawn care is the poisoning of aquatic life. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), Americans use roughly 75 million pounds of pesticides each year to ward off pesky bugs and critters. When these chemicals make their way into our streams and waterways, the fish ingest them and become diseased. Humans eat the fish, and can become ill, as well. It is a terrible cycle that you can be a part of ending. With an artificial grass lawn, there is no need for pricey fertilizers or pesticides, and while you might see a few bugs here and there, most insects go to where they can feed and where nutrients are, but because artificial grass provides none of these, bugs tend to go elsewhere, staying away from you and your bug-free environment.

SAVE THE WATER

Everyone knows how important water is to our world. As mentioned above, the use of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals for lawn maintenance are poisoning our streams and water supplies. But, on top of this, traditional lawn care fails in the water conservation department, too. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average family typically uses 320 gallons of water a day, and approximately 30% of that is devoted to outdoor use like watering the lawn. Nationally, residential landscape irrigation is almost one third of all water use, coming to nearly 9 billion gallons per day. Researchers in Minnesota have found that people are wasting large amounts of water, because people don’t know how to properly water grass and the new trend of sprinkler systems is part of the blame. The main issue is water shortages and impact on resources like lakes and wetlands. By removing your old, high-maintenance yard, and replacing it with a fresh, artificial grass lawn, you don’t have to worry about wasting water at all! There is no need to water any longer, and forget about sprinkler systems and maintenance. By switching to an artificial grass lawn, you will quickly see the significant drop in your water bill, as well!

LIGHTEN YOUR FOOTPRINT

Despite lawn care being a good workout, it can end up being a cumbersome weekly project. Not only does it wear on the person putting in the work, it is also increasing your personal carbon footprint on the earth, too. A carbon footprint is a measure of greenhouse gas emissions a person (or family, organization, company, etc.) creates in the environment. Many of our daily activities, such as driving a car, mowing the lawn, and using electricity all cause greenhouse gas emissions, and while you may feel that your mowing once a week could cause minimal damage, you might be surprised to learn that just one hour of mowing causes as much pollution as a 100 mile car trip. According to the study National Emissions from Lawn and Garden Equipment in 2011, approximately 26.7 million tons of pollutants were emitted by GLGE (Gasoline Powered Landscape Maintenance Equipment). Moreover, these gasoline powered landscape equipment, ranging from weed eaters and mowers to grinders and tractors are a source of high levels of localized emissions that include pollutants, criteria pollutants, and adverse health effects of the exhaust emissions, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, neurological conditions, and other health issues.

It is certainly obvious the environmental damage a traditional grass lawn and its necessary maintenance can cause. Making the change to an artificial grass lawn has never been more important. Not only do we need to make changes to work towards water conservation, but ending the use of pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals needs to end in order to preserve our natural resources and local wildlife. Lastly, switching to artificial grass turf will not only save you hours of lawn work every week, it will save you money every month, too. Your water bill will be slashed and there is no need to buy expensive lawn equipment. Also, you can feel proud that by getting rid of that old yard and installing a gorgeous, maintenance-free artificial grass lawn, you are decreasing your carbon footprint and truly making a positive environmental impact for our world.