News: The Dangers of Grass

There is no such thing as “the perfect lawn.” It’s a myth, a chemical-induced dream of a velvety green carpet surrounding the home.

The obsession with turf started in the United States after World War II and has expanded into a billion dollar industry with far-reaching consequences, according to environmental historian Ted Steinberg.

“There were lawns before WWII,” he says. “But they weren’t perfect. There was a tolerance for weeds, for clover.”

The unnatural plant
The nation’s leading “crop,” grass covers 25 million to 40 million acres of land, a combined area the size of Pennsylvania. Yet few people know much about that little green plant. Many homeowners rely on what they learned from their parents, who in turn learned it from theirs.

Much of our lawn care know-how has its origins in advertising, not horticulture.

Steinberg, an author twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, believes exploring the history of the all-American landscape is the best way to understand how this myth developed, why it still thrives today and its consequences.

He points to changes in American culture that brought about a new way of perceiving lawns, for example, “changes in people’s understanding of what color ought to be.”

“Bright color was a major part of what consumerism was about,” he says. “Bright colors, like a perfectly green lawn, said you were modern, just like a bright yellow refrigerator.”

“Keeping up appearances” also promoted the importance of front lawns, Steinberg says. As an extension of the family home, the lawn was seen as a reflection of the family and its personal identity.

The introduction of color televisions and the popularity of golf, with its perfectly manicured greens, brought the artificial image of what lawns could be into the home and consciousness of the American public. What people don’t see is the substantial effort it takes to build and sustain turf in an unnatural manner.

“Grass doesn’t look like that,” Steinberg says.

Most grasses need to be one to three inches tall, according to Yard Waste @ Home, an educational booklet by the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services. That’s a far cry from the peach-fuzz-style grass golf courses grow.

Grass that’s cut too short requires a chemical, water and labor-intensive maintenance program to artificially sustain it, performing tasks the grass can’t do for itself at that length, Steinberg says. Fertilizers provide nitrogen and other nutrients to keep grass green. Herbicides prevent weeds from taking hold. Pesticides keep bugs and insects from invading. Don’t forget lots of water.

Lawn treatments, available at hardware and even grocery stores, can be considered hazardous waste when its time to throw them away, according to Sue Magness, education specialist with Hamilton County Solid Waste Management.

“Household hazardous waste isn’t legislated, so residents are permitted to send it to the landfill,” she says. “If it were generated by a business, it would be regulated and they would not be permitted to send it to the landfill. That’s a hot political issue.”

Grow it, cut it, dump it
Magness is proud of the volume of material individuals have kept out of landfill in Hamilton County.

“We’ve collected 49,743 pounds of pesticide, fertilizers and herbicides in 2003 and 2004,” she says.

Carol Kauscher, founder and owner of DBugLady Pest Management Co., notes that most chemicals available to consumers are more dangerous than helpful.

“There are choices that are available, other than using toxic chemicals,” she says. “I’m including pesticides purchased in the store. As a licensed IPM (integrated pest management), I’m not allowed to use those. They’re that bad.”

Joe Doscher of Planet Green Organic Lawn Care agrees.

“Pesticides have been linked to cancer, neurological disorders, respiratory illnesses and a host of other serious conditions,” he says. “Children and adults in less than perfect health are more vulnerable to the effects of pesticides. Pets too suffer from seizures, cancer and even death.”

Steinberg asks visitors to remove their shoes before entering his home because the chemicals used by his neighbors, applied with broadcast spreaders and spray hoses, end up on sidewalks and the bottoms of shoes. These are transferred to carpeting where his children play.

The toxicity of lawn care is bad enough. But add the tyranny of city ordinances requiring specific lawn height, homeowners’ association regulations requiring grass as the primary ground cover and the tens of thousands of maiming accidents that occur during lawn mowing each year — mostly to children — and that quest for the perfect lawn seems downright sinister.

Of the 118 million tons of waste sent to Ohio landfills in 2002, 9 percent or 10.6 million tons was grass clippings. Hamilton County sent 85,666 tons of grass to landfills.

So what’s the solution? Sustainable “green” practices can help. Mulching grass clippings back into the lawn or starting a compost pile can save lawn-owners money on fertilizers and reduce the amount of organic materials going into landfills.

With approximately 59 million home lawns, 700,000 athletic fields and 16,000 golf facilities — many having more than one golf course — in the United States, the first step is awareness.

“Realize that the major thing here is that the lawn is taken for granted,” Steinberg says. “The whole purpose is to get people to wake up and realize what is essentially the landscape in the U.S., grass.”

Resources
The Cincinnati Nature Center hosts a lecture the third Wednesday of each month. The 2005 series focus is “Land Management for Homeowners.” Topics include:

· “Insect Gardening for Butterflies and Honey Bees”

· “Gardening for Birds and Wildlife”

· “Identifying and removing Invasive Plants” and

· “Maintaining Your Yards and Garden, Naturally”

For more information, visit

There is no such thing as “the perfect lawn.” It’s a myth, a chemical-induced dream of a velvety green carpet surrounding the home.

The obsession with turf started in the United States after World War II and has expanded into a billion dollar industry with far-reaching consequences, according to environmental historian Ted Steinberg.

“There were lawns before WWII,” he says. “But they weren’t perfect. There was a tolerance for weeds, for clover.”

The unnatural plant
The nation’s leading “crop,” grass covers 25 million to 40 million acres of land, a combined area the size of Pennsylvania. Yet few people know much about that little green plant. Many homeowners rely on what they learned from their parents, who in turn learned it from theirs.

Much of our lawn care know-how has its origins in advertising, not horticulture.

Steinberg, an author twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, believes exploring the history of the all-American landscape is the best way to understand how this myth developed, why it still thrives today and its consequences.

He points to changes in American culture that brought about a new way of perceiving lawns, for example, “changes in people’s understanding of what color ought to be.”

“Bright color was a major part of what consumerism was about,” he says. “Bright colors, like a perfectly green lawn, said you were modern, just like a bright yellow refrigerator.”

“Keeping up appearances” also promoted the importance of front lawns, Steinberg says. As an extension of the family home, the lawn was seen as a reflection of the family and its personal identity.

The introduction of color televisions and the popularity of golf, with its perfectly manicured greens, brought the artificial image of what lawns could be into the home and consciousness of the American public. What people don’t see is the substantial effort it takes to build and sustain turf in an unnatural manner.

“Grass doesn’t look like that,” Steinberg says.

Most grasses need to be one to three inches tall, according to Yard Waste @ Home, an educational booklet by the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services. That’s a far cry from the peach-fuzz-style grass golf courses grow.

Grass that’s cut too short requires a chemical, water and labor-intensive maintenance program to artificially sustain it, performing tasks the grass can’t do for itself at that length, Steinberg says. Fertilizers provide nitrogen and other nutrients to keep grass green. Herbicides prevent weeds from taking hold. Pesticides keep bugs and insects from invading. Don’t forget lots of water.

Lawn treatments, available at hardware and even grocery stores, can be considered hazardous waste when its time to throw them away, according to Sue Magness, education specialist with Hamilton County Solid Waste Management.

“Household hazardous waste isn’t legislated, so residents are permitted to send it to the landfill,” she says. “If it were generated by a business, it would be regulated and they would not be permitted to send it to the landfill. That’s a hot political issue.”

Grow it, cut it, dump it
Magness is proud of the volume of material individuals have kept out of landfill in Hamilton County.

“We’ve collected 49,743 pounds of pesticide, fertilizers and herbicides in 2003 and 2004,” she says.

Carol Kauscher, founder and owner of DBugLady Pest Management Co., notes that most chemicals available to consumers are more dangerous than helpful.

“There are choices that are available, other than using toxic chemicals,” she says. “I’m including pesticides purchased in the store. As a licensed IPM (integrated pest management), I’m not allowed to use those. They’re that bad.”

Joe Doscher of Planet Green Organic Lawn Care agrees.

“Pesticides have been linked to cancer, neurological disorders, respiratory illnesses and a host of other serious conditions,” he says. “Children and adults in less than perfect health are more vulnerable to the effects of pesticides. Pets too suffer from seizures, cancer and even death.”

Steinberg asks visitors to remove their shoes before entering his home because the chemicals used by his neighbors, applied with broadcast spreaders and spray hoses, end up on sidewalks and the bottoms of shoes. These are transferred to carpeting where his children play.

The toxicity of lawn care is bad enough. But add the tyranny of city ordinances requiring specific lawn height, homeowners’ association regulations requiring grass as the primary ground cover and the tens of thousands of maiming accidents that occur during lawn mowing each year — mostly to children — and that quest for the perfect lawn seems downright sinister.

Of the 118 million tons of waste sent to Ohio landfills in 2002, 9 percent or 10.6 million tons was grass clippings. Hamilton County sent 85,666 tons of grass to landfills.

So what’s the solution? Sustainable “green” practices can help. Mulching grass clippings back into the lawn or starting a compost pile can save lawn-owners money on fertilizers and reduce the amount of organic materials going into landfills.

With approximately 59 million home lawns, 700,000 athletic fields and 16,000 golf facilities — many having more than one golf course — in the United States, the first step is awareness.

“Realize that the major thing here is that the lawn is taken for granted,” Steinberg says. “The whole purpose is to get people to wake up and realize what is essentially the landscape in the U.S., grass.”

Resources
The Cincinnati Nature Center hosts a lecture the third Wednesday of each month. The 2005 series focus is “Land Management for Homeowners.” Topics include:

· “Insect Gardening for Butterflies and Honey Bees”

· “Gardening for Birds and Wildlife”

· “Identifying and removing Invasive Plants” and

· “Maintaining Your Yards and Garden, Naturally”

For more information, visit www.cincynature.org.

Yard Waste @ Home, available from Hamilton County Solid Waste Management, contains information about fertilizers, pesticides, lawn mower maintenance, composting and how to keep your lawn healthy while protecting your family and the environment. Visit www.hcdoes.org/sw/Yardwaste/ yardwaste.pdf

The Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Series was developed by the University of Minnesota to provide sustainable landscape information to the public and to the horticulture/landscape industry. The series enables homeowners, business owners and landscapers to create outdoor spaces that are functional, maintainable, environmentally sound, cost effective and aesthetically pleasing. Visit www.sustland.umn.edu/maint/ maint.htm

This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2005.