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I. Application of Commercial Fertilizers
Some 3,000,000 tons of the fertilizers produced go into maintaining greener than normal or necessary American Lawns*, thereby squandering resources, an appreciable fraction of which are non-renewable and needed by the peoples of the world in food production. It has been estimated that 60 % of the nitrogen applied to lawns eventually ends up in ground water. Besides contamination of the ground water fertilizers have the hidden contribution to air pollution, due to the large amounts of fossil fuels burned in their production and distribution.**
II. Power Mowing Equipment
Power mowers, especially riding types, are fossil fuel demanding devices. They also require more energy in initial construction and maintenance than do hand-operated mowers. In California alone it has been estimated that the annual emissions from lawn care equipment is equivalent to the emissions produced by 3.5 million 1991 automobiles driven 16,000 miles each.**
III. Expenditure of Fossil Fuel
580 million gallons of gas are used annually for power mowers alone.** Taken along with the inefficiency of power mowers, this is an extreme waste of limited resources. Often manually operated mowers could do the job adequately.
Up to 40% of the pesticides used in the United States are applied in urban and suburban environments. In 1988 alone $700 million was spent on pesticides for American lawn car,e** including both herbicides and insecticides. By reducing lawn area and living with "weeds," herbicide use can be eliminated.
In the United States we generate over 160 million tons of solid waste annually. The second largest component of the solid waste stream is yard waste and of that 3/4 is grass clippings. These clippings need not be removed. In fact, by removing them, the nitrogen that they contain is also being removed. In the state of Connecticut alone if 20% of all the grass clippings from a year's worth of mowing are removed, a total of 2000 tons of nitrogen is being removed with them and placed into a landfill,** which are rapidly filling up.
The American lawn requires large amounts of water in order to maintain the desired lush green appearance. Many of the current lawn care practices result in inefficient water use. Removing grass clippings exposes the soil to heat and the air drying it out faster. The short, well manicured lawns also do not have the same effect of shading the soil as taller grass which results in more rapid water loss. Taller grass can also have a much deeper root system which results in less need for watering during times of drought since it is able to tap into sources of water that are deeper in the soil. The inefficiency that has been built into our lawns has resulted in a tremendous use of water. In fact, in urban East Coast areas, 30% of the water used is devoted to lawn care.**
The noise produced by power mowers, especially the larger riding types, is an environmental insult that no neighbor should have to tolerate. In the present age one is not immune, even on Sundays -- the one time that used to be recognized as a day of rest.
VIII. Loss of Healthful Exercise
The use of the riding mower, particularly among the younger age groups, represents the epitome of waste in our affluent society. It is well-documented that vigorous exercise, such as that experienced in pushing a lawn mower, is excellent for the cardiac and skeletal systems.
*Jenkins, Viginia S. The Lawn: A History of
an American Obsession. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington.
1994.
**Bormann, H. F., D. Balmori, and G.
T. Geballe. Redesigning the American Lawn: A Search for Environmental
Harmony. Yale University Press, New Haven. 1993.
- Dr. William Niering
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