Our Grass Could be Greener

 

Nationwide, we’ve planted enough lawn to cover the state of Mississippi. Those 30 million acres require a lot of gas-chugging mowers and toxic pesticides to stay green – a look that’s lush, but ultimately devastating to the environment.

 

A gas-powered mower pollutes as much in one hour as a car driven for 350 miles, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. About 30 million tons of fertilizer and pesticides, many containing chemicals known to cause birth defects, cancer and damage to the reproductive system, are dumped annually on residential lawns. The runoff from those lawn treatments pollutes groundwater and nearby lakes, bays and oceans.

 

Want to make your lawn a kinder, gentler part of the landscape? Start here:

 

• Switch to electric or battery-powered mowers, or, for a smaller lawn, use a reel mower.
• If you use a gas-powered mower, opt for a four-stroke model rather than a two-stroke one. They emit about half the carbon monoxide and one-tenth the hydrocarbons.
• Reduce mowing time and watering demands. Grow low-maintenance, slow-growing grasses. Or convert part of your lawn to ornamental native plants.
• Switch to organic fertilizers – naturally occurring animal and plant byproducts such as manure, fish, bone and blood meal, and fruit scraps. A good buying guide: If the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium ratio equals more than 15, or if one of the numbers is higher than 8, then it’s not likely organic.