... Suburban Lawn? ... Although used infrequently, law

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The 800 Pound Gorilla in our Backyards
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Why Focus on the Suburban Lawn?

• A high level of Americans interaction with the
  environment occurs here need to teach the right
  lessons
• Third largest crop in the U.S. and growing!
• Especially important for urban watersheds like
  the N.W. Branch can be the major source of
  pollutants

3
The Lawn Ecosystem in the U.S.

• Imported from Europe is an artificial ecosystem
• Only able to become widespread because of
  technological innovations

4
The National Costs of the Lawn Ecosystem

• Americans spend 25 Billion dollars a year on
  landscaping
• 100 for every person in the country
• 380 for every household

5
The Costs Associated with Lawn Care

• The average homeowner spends six times more per
  hectare on yard care than the average farmer
  spends tending crops.

6
The Ecological Footprint Concept

• An ecological footprint is a way of translating
  the environmental impacts of an activity into the
  land needed to sustain that activity ad infinitum

7
Ecological Footprint of the Lawn at the National
and State Level

• Nationally we use enough energy in lawn care
  every year to supply 1.5 million American
  households with power for a year.
• 1/5 hectare of land is needed to provide enough
  energy to care for one hectare of lawn

8
Estimated National and State Level Air Pollution
from Lawn Care

• Although used infrequently, lawn equipment
  creates a significant amount of air pollution
  because small engine emission standards are more
  lenient than large engine standards.
• Lawn equipment produces between 10-30 times as
  much air pollution per liter of gas as a car.

9
The Lawns Impact on Biota

• Very few studies on this topic
• Studies show that urban growth favors generalist
  and exotic species

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Comparison of Biota with Different Maintenance
Regimes
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Impacts of Lawns on Soil Water

• 1/5 of all pesticides are used on lawns 10x
  higher than farmers use
• 10 percent of water pollution comes from lawn
  care
• 1/3 of household water use is used in lawn care

12
Runoff and Soil Loss

• Rain water infiltration is 2.5 greater in natural
  fields than the compacted lawns of suburbia
• Reduces groundwater recharge
• Makes streams more flashy
• Increases erosion rates

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What to do?

• Solutions Grow from a Sense of Place Design for
  the Place Where You Live
• Use poorly draining land as a pond or install a
  rain garden there

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What to do?

• Design and maintain yard using ecological
  accounting
• Example Integrated pest management vs. pesticides

15
What to do?

• Design and maintain yards with Nature instead of
  against it
• Example yard waste compost vs. landfill

16
What to do?

• Make nature visible
• People become interested in nature through their
  yards parks
• Helps them make the connection between themselves
  and the environment around them

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Concrete Examples

• Rain Barrels

• Composters

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More Examples

• Urban Shared Gardens

• Rain Gardens

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Still more

• Reduce lawn sizes

• Eliminate exotics/plant perennials natives

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More Examples

• Green roofs

• Plant trees