Lawn and Order--That's a Lot of Grass

Continuing on the earlier stream about lawn care...

From Common Dreams

The average lawn is a flat, featureless, artificially maintained environment heavily dependent on synthetic chemicals. The chemicals used in lawn care also have a seedy history. Pesticides, for
example, are little more than nerve agents derived from stockpiled toxins developed during World War Two.

Lawns are holdovers dating from the Middle Ages when the French aristocracy
began converting otherwise productive fields into pleasure grounds, he says.
In gardening-mad England, later generations of the bourgeoisie displayed
their newfound wealth in similar fashion, planting rose beds and
establishing luxuriant green lawns.

This historical trend would have far-reaching repercussions for middle-class
home owners in the 21st century who are willing to spend hundreds of dollars
every year on the upkeep and maintenance of their lawns. According to a 2002
economic impact study published by the University of Florida, the lawn care
and turf industry generated a staggering 57 billion dollars annually and
employed 800,000-plus people.

Using satellite and aerial imagery, research scientists from the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration have calculated that approximately
162,000 square kilometers of the United States is covered in turf -- an area
roughly three times larger than any irrigated crop currently under
cultivation. And lawns are thirsty, consuming approximately 270 billion
gallons of water a week in the U.S. -- enough to irrigate 327,000 square
kilometers of organic vegetables.

A Shout Out to the Backyard Abundance Group in Iowa City who know how to grow lawns that are spectacular, sustainable, and healthy.

Take Really Good Care of Your Lawn--Don't Use Pesticides

Now that spring has sprung, it is important to remind people that taking care of your lawn is good, but doing it without herbicides and pesticides is better for all of us.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 100 million pounds of active ingredient from herbicides, insecticides, miticides, and fungicides were applied in homes and gardens in the United States in 2001. Of that, homeowners used 13 percent of total herbicides, 16 percent of total insecticides and miticides, and 16 percent of total fungicides.

The EPA also tells us that the average homeowner uses 20 times the concentration of pesticides on their lawns than a farmer does.

Pesticides, herbicides, and miticides are bad news to little people and other living organisms.

Pesticides drift and settle during application. In the Antarctic ice pack alone there are 2.4 million pounds of DDT and its metabolites from years past.

Pesticides engulf the home and are easily tracked inside, readily inhaled and absorbed through the skin. They do harm by attacking the central nervous system and other essential organs.

The National Academy of Sciences reports that at least one out of seven people are significantly harmed by pesticide exposure each year. Increasingly, reports from many people around the country are "beginning to link feeling terrible with the fact the neighbors had the lawn sprayed the day before", notes Catherine Karr, a toxicologist for the National Coalition Against The Misuse Of Pesticides.

Symptoms of pesticide poisoning are often deceptively simple, commonly mis-diagnosed as flu or allergies. They include, but are not limited to, headaches, nausea, fever, breathing difficulties, seizures, eye pains, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, sore nose, tongue, or throat; burning skin, rashes, coughing, muscle pain, tissue swelling, blurred vision, numbness and tingling in hands or feet, incontinence, anxiety, irritability, sleep disorders, hyperactivity, fatigue, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, spontaneous bleeding, and temporary paralysis.

Long-term consequences include lowered fertility, birth defects, miscarriages, blindness, liver and kidney dysfunction, neurological damage, heart trouble, stroke, immune system disorders, menstrual problems, memory loss, suicidal depression, cancer, and death.

There are natural ways to address your lawn in a healthier way, try them.