Sunday, October 16, 2011

Why Using Artificial Grass Is More Environmental Friendly

By Carol Baker


Artificial grass was first launched in the 1960s to be employed for high standard synthetic surfaces for professional sports teams. As time passes, new technologies have developed and corporations have engineered less expensive product that even house owners can really buy as an artificial lawn substitute. As artificial grass has fast become widely used, it has also been pointed out by a few environmentalists stating that using this type of artificial surface on your own yard contributes a damaging influence on the atmosphere. We now have looked in greater detail within the subject and identified many factors why employing artificial grass in your yard can actually conserve the surroundings.

An argument usually employed by environmentalists is that artificial grass cannot transform carbon dioxide to oxygen, which of course benefits the surroundings. This may be correct, but, just what does it require to maintain a natural grass lawn? Of course you need a lawn mower which is usually either electric or petrol driven, as only a few people have lawn mowers which are not power driven currently. According to some research performed by the Environmental Protection Agency in Sweden, one hour use with a petrol-driven lawnmower matches a 100 mile car trip. For that reason, employing artificial grass can certainly lessen the presence of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere.

Similarly, to sustain natural grass, chemicals like pesticides, fertilizers and weed killers must be regularly utilized. Chemicals such as these are actually believed to bring about just as much as 8% towards climatic change. Likewise, direct exposure to the said poisonous chemicals is definitely dangerous to humans since they have been shown to raise the risk of cancer along with other fatal illnesses. Certainly, artificial grass does not demand all of these chemicals so it's completely harmless even to young children.

To keep your natural grass garden as green and as healthy as possible you need to water it regularly, particularly in hot climates or during summer months. It has been equated that a natural lawn requires approximately 55 gallons of water per year for every square foot of grass, to keep it lush and healthy. On the other hand, this will never be the case if artificial grass is utilized. So can you imagine how much precious water you can conserve over a year with an artificial lawn? And by doing so, it will also save you money with your water bill.

Meanwhile, it was also raised that artificial grass tends to produce runoffs after heavy rain preventing replenishment of groundwater. Accordingly, these runoffs bypass sewage treatment systems and discharge contaminated water into nearby surface waters. This is actually wrong! Most artificial grass nowadays is permeable and can actually allow absorption of rainwater into the established drainage systems.

We totally agree with the concern of the environmentalist that our mother earth is actually being affected because of human generated activities. However, there are numerous reasons, some of which we have covered above, why artificial grass may in fact benefit the environment and it seems unlikely that these synthetic surfaces contribute any significant negative effect. There is certainly a place for natural grass lawns, and long may they continue. But a growing number of people are now opting for artificial grass lawns as an aesthetically pleasing and lower maintenance option to surface their garden.




About the Author: