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Published byJeanette Trindle Modified over 10 years ago
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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 American’s 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
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The Lawn Ecosystem in the U.S. Imported from Europe – is an artificial ecosystem Only able to become widespread because of technological innovations
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Americans spend 25 Billion dollars a year on landscaping $100 for every person in the country $380 for every household The National Costs of the Lawn Ecosystem
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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. LandownerTotal CostCost/PersonCost/Hectare Homeowners$25 Billion$379.00$2,500/hectare Farmers$57 BillionNot available$420/hectare
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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
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Ecological Footprint of the Lawn at the National and State Level InputTotal Energy Use (GJ)Total Footprint (Hectares)Footprint per Hectare (Hectares) PennsylvaniaNationalPennsylvaniaNationalPennsylvaniaNational LandN/A 548,35011,600,0001.0 Water7.7x10 5 6.1x10 6 9,62576,5000.0180.007 Fuel6.8x10 6 9.1x10 7 85,0001,138,0000.1550.098 Machine Production 8.8x10 5 4.4x10 7 11,000550,0000.020.047 Fertilizer Production 1.4x10 6 1.32x10 7 17,500165,0000.0320.014 Pesticide Production 4.8x10 5 4.8x10 6 60060,0000.0010.004 Total1.03x10 7 1.59x10 8 672,07513,589,5001.2261.170 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
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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. InputParticulate Matter per Hectare NO x and HC's per Hectare Total CO per Hectare Total CO 2 per Hectare Total NH 3 per Hectare National11.5 kg/yr.403 kg/yr.1,910 kg/yr. 806 kg/yr.0.017 kg/yr. PA14 kg/yr.540 kg/yr.2,537 kg/yr. 1,082 kg/yr. 0.032 kg/yr.
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The Lawn’s 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 Maintenance Regime High Maintenance Medium Maintenance Low Maintenance Number of Plant Species Found 2 species5 species16 species Percentage of Native Species Found 0 percent 56 percent
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Impacts of Lawns on Soil & Water 1/5 of all pesticides are used on lawns – 10x higher than farmer’s use 10 percent of water pollution comes from lawn care 1/3 of household water use is used in lawn care
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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
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What to do? Design and maintain yards with Nature instead of against it Example: yard waste – compost vs. landfill
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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 BarrelsComposters
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More Examples Urban Shared GardensRain Gardens
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Still more Reduce lawn sizesEliminate exotics/plant perennials & natives
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More Examples Green roofsPlant trees
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