The grass that covers the land around most homes in the US is expensive, pointless, and bad for the environment. Grass soaks up immense amounts of water and requires a ridiculous amount of time and money to maintain; mowing, herbicides, pesticides, sprinkler systems, and fertilizers absorb far more money that is warranted by a patch of monoculture grass.

Grass lawns use 40-60% of the water the average homeowner uses every year. Grass is not native to the US, and therefore relies on an abundance of resources just to keep it alive, including water and fertilizer. Much of the water used is lost as runoff, which can wash away fertilizer and cause eutrophication. Eutrophication occurs when the runoff fertilizer provides algae in local bodies of water with excess nutrients, causing it to grow uncontrollably,  block the water’s surface, and suck up oxygen, depriving the resources for other organisms in the water. Then, the algae dies after its exhausted all its nutrients.

To attain the perfect grass lawn, a huge amount of pesticides and herbicides must be used. US homeowners use about three times more pesticides per acre than the average farmer, and lawns take up more space than any agricultural crop. Additionally, only two of the 34 most-used lawn pesticides have been tested for health and environmental safety, and herbicides and pesticides can poison essential insects like bees and can contaminate the food chain, harming animals such as birds, fish, and even humans. 

Overall, grass lawns suck. They are incredibly resource-intensive and serve no real purpose other than aesthetics, a role that can be filled by other plants and lawn styles quite easily. Due to all of the excessive requirements for a grass lawn, it’s time homeowners start replacing them with other lawns that are better for the environment and their wallet while being even more beautiful.

When I realized I hadn’t yet written about grass lawns a few days ago, I was shocked. I learned about how terrible grass was for the environment and about how many beautiful alternatives there are to it probably around a year ago, but for some reason didn’t think to write about it.

This is a topic that I’m so interested in, but also kind of frustrates me. I wish more people talked about it, because grass lawns are a stupid tradition that suck in too many ways. It has far too many cons to be such a prevalent sight, but sometimes it’s hard to get rid of something that people are used to. Similarly, because people view clover as an annoying weed, they are less likely to see a clover lawn for what it is: a lush, bright field that requires less maintenance, water, and is beneficial to the local ecosystem. Sorry, I’ll save that for next week. If you want to hear about this fantastic grass alternative, stay tuned to learn with me!

“Lawn treatment.” Environmental Encyclopedia, edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield, Gale, 2011. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CV2644150792/OVIC?u=ante588&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=c42c70ba. Accessed 4 Aug. 2023.