“Shit lawns”

I don’t have a garden but at least the communal garden assigned to our block of flats includes grass.

Yes, grass …. that natural green stuff.

Unfortunately, plastic grass seems to be “growing” everywhere, a coal and oil-derived product which can not be easily recycled and which is replacing natural vegetation. Those who “grow” it usually destroy their front gardens too, ripping out hedges and tiling over the flower beds.

Estate agents call these “stunning low-maintenance gardens” and market the properties as “modernised”.

Just imagine how grim those bright white slabs and plastic lawns are in a heatwave. Artificial lawns get hotter than bitumen and concrete. Without a blade of grass and no shading vegetation, they are furnaces emitting an unpleasant smell of melting plastic.

Artificial plastic lawns turn out to be high maintenance after all. They need to be watered to cool them down. They need special cleaning products to get rid of smells and stains. You even have to vacuum them to get rid of leaves.

This would actually be funny if it wasn’t for the serious consequences.

Trees and grass have cooling effects caused by shading and transpiration when water within the tree is released as water vapour through their leaves.

Hard surfaces, typical of urban areas, are much hotter than areas of natural vegetation. Destroying vegetation changes how the land absorbs and releases energy and therefore contributes to temperature increases. 

Just as serious is the significant loss of biodiversity. With rampant habitat degradation and destruction in the countryside, urban gardens are even more critical in providing a habitat for wildlife. The biodiversity crisis poses just as great an existential risk to humanity as the climate emergency. Nature-based solutions to reverse the appalling decline in wildlife are essential, even those at a small scale and local level.

Sadly, most people are totally oblivious or just don’t care and just carry on with their ecocide regardless. When so many people choose to annihilate all life in their own gardens, it really is a challenge to encourage them to behave in a more nature-friendly way.

As far as I am concerned, “shit lawns” should be banned or at the very least regulated in terms of their constituent materials and recycling capability.

Better still, why not try a radical alternative? …. grass!

Shit Lawns (@Shitlawns) / Twitter .... Showcasing the hideous trend of plastic lawns. Cutting through greenwash and exposing examples of garden habitats being replaced by sterile and lifeless astroturf.

Slava Ukraini! …. Glory to Ukraine!

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Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature