Is your yard brown from a harsh winter?
Good. Here are 10 reasons why you should stop fussing over your lawn and let it die.
1. Grass lawns waste water. No surprise here. According to the EPA, 30 to 60 percent of urban fresh water is used for watering and maintaining lawns — and due to poor timing and application, most of this water is totally wasted.
2. Grass lawns waste energy. According to the EPA, each year in the United States:
- $5.25 billion is spent on fossil fuel-derived fertilizers for lawns.
- 580 million gallons of gasoline are used for lawnmowers.
- 17 million gallons of gas are spilled each year refueling lawn and garden equipment – more oil than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez. In addition to groundwater contamination, spilled fuel that evaporates into the air and volatile organic compounds spit out by small engines make smog-forming ozone when cooked by heat and sunlight.
3. Lawns waste time. You know all of those hours you spend mowing your lawn? Don’t you have something better to do with your time? I’m sure you can easily think of at least a dozen things you’d rather be doing. Playing with your kids or pets? Reading a book? Catching up with friends on the porch over a pitcher of iced tea?
4. Lawns are a waste of space. Why grow grass when you could grow a beautiful garden of native species and vegetables?
5. Lawns cause air pollution. While razor push-mowers are coming back, the majority of people in the United States still rely on the gasoline-powered lawn mowers, which have an enormous carbon footprint. The 54 million Americans mowing their lawns each weekend with gas-powered mowers may be contributing as much as five percent of the nation’s air pollution, according to the EPA.
The EPA estimates that the amount of pollution emitted by a lawnmower operating for one hour is equivalent to the amount of pollution emitted by a car driven for approximately 45 miles.
6. Lawns encourage the use of fertilizers and lawn treatments that are hazardous to people, animals, and water. Each year, the United States spends $700 million on the 67 million pounds of synthetic pesticides that are used on U.S. lawns, according to the EPA.
7. Lawns waste money. Each year, this country spends $25 billion on the lawn care industry, according to the EPA. That is insane to me. With the economy in the tank, I can think of much better ways to spend our limited financial resources than maintaining our lawns.
8. Lawns can be dangerous to maintain. Each year, 60,000 to 70,000 severe accidents result from lawnmowers, according to the EPA.
9. Lawns kill. Wildlife specialists call bird poisonings in residential areas “lawncare syndrome.” Symptoms include excessive salivation, grand mal seizures, wild flapping and screaming, most often followed by death.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, lawn use is a significant component of the total pesticide problem. NAS said that although the farmer uses pesticides more widely, the homeowner uses 10 times more per acre than do farmers.
10. Lawns are damaging our hearing. Powered mowers contribute to noise pollution and hearing loss. I’d much rather hear the sounds of birds chirping than the endless roar of lawn mowers that permeate our neighborhoods.
Are you ready to tear up your lawn? If your answer is still no, find out how to grow a healthy lawn naturally.
If I owned my own property I would replace all the grass. What I have here is less grass and more weeds. The one thing about the weeds is they need less frequent cutting and stay green even in drought periods when the grass is all brown.
Me too! My landlord wouldn’t like me letting his lawn go to weeds, so I have to take care of it. Ideally, I would like sand and rocks and cactus, so hopefully someday 🙂
hey amanda-prob is many cities are anti ground cover and most schools where kids learn “what is right?” have large mowed lawns in lieu of ground cover; hence kids are subliminally taught grass is good-you really need to attack these 2 institutions to accomplish a moderation of the mowed lawn-in Fla where we are we always felt tax policy that promoted front yard gardening could literally feed everyone in fla and many grocery stores would not be needed-most folks with front yard gardens produce way more than they can eat-there would be no need for any homeless since they could be recruited to tend these front yard gardens in exchange for food overage-oh yeh the “grass lobby is very strong”-you can start with Scotty on those tv adds-Best Conservastore
Most HOA s require a properly maintained and perfectly groomed lawn even though there are so many more creative and wonderful things you could do with that little postage stamp sized piece of land . It’s a rigid and inflexible standard .
I want a yard not a grown up pasture full of weeds.I like a clean neat yard.I lived in the country with a 4 acre yard for my grandkids to run and play not a jungle for snakes etc
Get your stupid nose off my lawn.
I use as much fertilizer as I need (about half to a third of what’s recommended).
I plant borders of native flowers and bee friendly plants and bushes.
I water in the morning – as needed- and allow my lawn to go dormant at the proper time (I don’t fight mother nature).
I use a battery operated mower and stringe trimmer.
A lawn is a fire break and a zone that give rattlesnakes and copperhead little cover. They help keep mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks away from pets and children.
My lawn is my hobby and my business. Your weeds or gardens are yours.
It’s completely unnatural to have lawns and the regardless of the little water and fertilizer u think use, I’m sure millions of others feel the same way, but that’s just it millions of others adds up and there u go ur the problem to. Fuel Fertilizer and a unnatural balance to nature goes along way when u account for millions of copy cats. Point is we should never be regulated that we have to have and maintain these unnatural burdens. Most grass in America isn’t even native so the balance has long been ruined. I could explain more but please have some critical thinking on this. U can fill in the rest and please be offended it makes u have to think a little more past your lawn. Don’t be selfish.
👍🏼well saiid 👏👏👏👏
The lawn is a great place to play with the grandkids.