In 2018, Americans used nearly 3 billion gallons of gasoline running lawn and
garden equipment. That's the equivalent of 6 million passenger cars
running for a year. Dreamstime / MCT
Summer is officially here. For many Americans, that means blankets of grassy green for kids to play in.
There are an estimated 40 million to 50 million acres of lawn in the continental United States — that’s nearly as much as all of the country’s national parks combined. In 2020, Americans spent $105 billion keeping their lawns verdant and neat.
But our love of grass comes at an environmental cost.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, maintaining those lawns also consumes nearly 3 trillion gallons of water a year as well as 59 million pounds of pesticides, which can seep into our land and waterways.
Department of Transportation data shows that in 2018, Americans used nearly 3 billion gallons of gasoline running lawn and garden equipment. That's the equivalent of 6 million passenger cars running for a year.
As these issues are becoming more prominent in climate change discussion, there are steps you can take to more sustainably manage the impact of your lawn, including choosing organic fertilizers, avoiding pesticides, and using electric lawn maintenance equipment
But how we care for our lawns is secondary to the amount of lawn we have in the first place, experts say. Having less grass and more plants is among the most important factors in keeping a yard eco-friendly.
“Lawn, ecologically, is dead space,” said Doug Tallamy, an entomologist at the University of Delaware and author of Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE...
