The American Lawn

Our neighbors to one side are both zoologists, and we have had more than a few conversations about water pollution and environmental responsibility. That, plus reading a book on America's obsession with the lawn, annual discussions about the "dead zone" of oxygen depleted water in the Gulf created in part by fertilizers has made me a pretty hand's off lawn manager. I don't water (unless it starts to turn completely brown) and have not applied either weed killer or fertilizer for many, many years. If I could get around to it, I would like to replace a lot of the grass with some kind of drought-resistant monkey grass to further reduce the mowing.

So, it makes me feel a little better when I read this about how much money, water, and chemicals go into our lawns:

"Amount of lawn in the United States: 40.5 million acres
Total amount of money spent on lawn care: $30 billion

Percent of residential water used outside: 30 to 60%
Amount of water used daily for residential irrigation: more than 7 billion gallons

Amount of fertilizers used on lawns annually: 3 million tons
Percent reduction of nitrogen fertilizer needed if clippings left on lawn: about 50%

Amount of synthetic pesticides used on lawns annually: over 30 thousand tons
Amount spent on pesticides in 2001 for home and garden use: almost $2.2 billion
Ratio of pesticide use per acre by the average homeowner versus the average farmer: 10 to 1"

More.

Steinberg estimates that we spend $40 Billion a year on lawn care, that some 75,000 + Americans are injured using lawn mowers (roughly the same as injured by firearms).

Americans spill about 17 million gallons of gas each summer (or 50% more than was spilled in the Exxon Valdez).

Millions of birds die each year as a result of lawn-care pesticides.