Part Five, Issue 14

1. Part Five, Issue 14 Whacker Madness: The Proliferation of Turfgrass

2. Objectives After reading the assigned chapter and reviewing the materials presented the students will be able to understand: • What are the positive and negative environmental impacts of turf grass proliferation? • Is water used in turf maintenance a significant environmental issue? • Are millions of acres of turf consistent with sustainability?

3. Land Use Changes in North America • The first major change involved clearing old growth forest for agriculture. • Land use change continues in suburban United States, with the conversion of large areas to turf grass. • More than one million acres of farmland is devoted to grass seed cultivation. • Overall, there were more than 50 million acres of managed turf in the United States as of 2002.

4. What is Turf? • Turf comes from 2 sources: • 1. Grass seed sown on a plot of soil. • 2. Pre grown turf rolls (also called sod) produced on turf farms. • Most new construction use turf rolls from sod farms to give a house or commercial building an “instant lawn.” • 625 square feet of lawn provides enough oxygen for one person for an entire day. • Lawns cool the temperature. • Lawns protect water quality by filtering runoff.

5. Adverse Effects of Lawns and Turf • Most lawns receive inappropriate doses of fertilizer, insecticide, and herbicide. • Urban sprawl replaces agricultural land and wood land. • Woodland can help counter global warming. • Most lawn care devices (mowers, trimmers, blowers, weed whackers) use two cycle engines that burn oil and spew smog forming emissions.

6. The Lawn Care Industry • U.S. homeowners are turning to lawn, landscape, and tree care professionals, spending $17.4 billion on outdoor home improvement in 1999. • Lawn care devices such as blowers, mowers, and trimmers represent a 5 billion a year growth industry. • Many cities are encouraging “xeriscaping” – planting native drought resistant plants in lawns to cut down on water demand.

7. Gas Powered Leaf Blowers • Two stroke engines power most leaf blowers. • As much as 30% of the fuel/oil mixture of leaf blowers is exhausted unburned. • Two additional sources of emissions of leaf blowers are dust and noise. • By 2004, more than 100 cities had banned or regulated leaf blowers.

8. Noise Pollution • In addition to damaging hearing, noise may cause other adverse health impacts including sleep disturbance and changes in performance and behavior. • Based on EPA data, at least 3 million people nationwide could be exposed to leaf blower noise at annoying levels. • About 13% of Californians live in cities that ban the use of leafblowers.

9. Summary • The first major change involved clearing old growth forest for agriculture. • Land use change continues in suburban United States, with the conversion of large areas to turf grass. • 625 square feet of lawn provides enough oxygen for one person for an entire day. Lawns cool the temperature. Lawns protect water quality by filtering runoff. • Most lawn care devices (mowers, trimmers, blowers, weed whackers) use two cycle engines that burn oil and spew smog forming emissions. • Many cities are encouraging “xeriscaping” – planting native drought resistant plants in lawns to cut down on water demand.

10. Home Work •  1. What are the advantages of lawns? • 2. What are the disadvantages of lawns? • 3. What is the advantage of xeriscaping?