Whether your aim is to have the best-looking lawn on the block, or you simply want to save time, money, and energy by reducing your lawn maintenance requirements, artificial grass is a great choice. That’s not to mention all of the environmental benefits of artificial grass.
There are many reasons why synthetic turf helps the environment. In addition to helping you cut down on landscaping costs and reducing the amount of the time spent manicuring your lawn throughout the year, which frees up more time and money to devote to environmental causes, artificial grass also helps the environment in the following ways. Let’s take a look:
Water Conservation
The statistics related to water use for landscaping the average American yard are pretty astounding.
According to the EPA, “The average American family uses 320 gallons of water per day, about 30 percent of which is devoted to outdoor uses. More than half of that outdoor water is used for watering lawns and gardens. Nationwide, landscape irrigation is estimated to account for nearly one-third of all residential water use, totaling nearly 9 billion gallons per day.”
It’s hard to visualize what 9 billion gallons of water looks like, so we’ve taken an example from the USGS:
“A good-sized bath holds 50 gallons, so a million gallons would be 20,000 baths…If you were a swimming-pool builder and a customer asked you to build a pool that would hold a million-gallons…you would need to build a pool about 267 feet long (almost as long as a football field), 50 feet wide, and 10 feet deep.”
Alternatively, with artificial grass, outdoor water use is almost nonexistent, with the exception of any flowers or other live plants you may maintain.
Decreased Gas Pollution
Although mowing the lawn can sometimes be good exercise, it is an otherwise tedious task that comes with keeping your live lawn fresh and tidy. Synthetic turf, on the other hand eliminates the need for a lawn mower altogether. Not only will you save time you would have spent cutting the grass, but you’ll also save money, by not having to constantly fill your mower with gas.
The impact of your lawn mower and the gas you use to power it may not be something you’ve thought about much before. It may seem insignificant, but studies show that, “an hour of using a gas-powered lawn mower is the same as driving a car for over a hundred miles.” Studies also show that approximately 56 million North Americans mow their lawns each weekend, “using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants.”
But it doesn’t end with your lawn mower. All the other gas-powered equipment used to tidy up your lawn also contributes to environmental pollution. It is estimated that “17 million gallons of fuel (mostly gas) are spilled each year during the refueling of lawn-care equipment,” including mowers, trimmers, blowers, chippers, and more. This results in the contamination of groundwater, and also the deterioration of ozone.”
By installing artificial turf, you can decrease the amount of gas pollution that goes into the air, which will significantly reduce your carbon footprint on the planet.
Decreased Fertilizer and Pesticide Use
It is estimated that (of the 3,000,000 tons of fertilizer which is used each year to keep lawns green and shiny) “up to 60% of synthetic nitrogen applied to lawns does not get used and ends up contaminating ground water.” Many fertilizers and most pesticides are extremely toxic to the animals and insects that live in and around your lawn, such as birds, bees, and fish.
In addition to the negative effect of fertilizers and pesticides on the animals that live in and around this contaminated water, human exposure is also dangerous. Exposure to water contamination is known to increase disease and other serious health issues such as cancer, birth defects, allergies, and many others.
These are just a few of the environmental benefits of artificial grass. If you’re considering making the switch to synthetic turf, but are concerned about its impact on the environment, the statistics speak loudly.
