Why Fake Grass is not an Environmental Solution
It’s summertime so we’re not expecting rain for a few months and the weather is hot. You’d like to invite your friends over for cocktails in the yard and your kids want a place to play. Fake grass/artificial turf seems like the perfect solution – no need to water it, little maintenance, and it provides all the benefits of a traditional lawn. For many people, there is the added perk that fake grass appears to be an environmental solution. With drought as a recurrent problem, we have been encouraged to limit our use of municipal water on our residential landscapes. The featured image above is from the NY Times article dated 07.09.2021 (see Resources below).
I chose the words “seems” and “appears” because fake grass is a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The reality is that fake grass is NOT an environmental solution – it has been said to be something extremely different – a “crime against nature” – akin to blowing smoke into a baby’s face (see Daily Mail, 2023, below).
Fake grass is composed of fibers that mimic grass blades and a base material. The first fake grass was developed for playing fields and was installed in 1966 at the Houston Astrodome and hence was named “AstroTurf” (originally ChemGrass). The blades were nylon with a foam backing like carpet but no infill. Many injuries resulted due to the hard surface and the heat of the blades. Fake grass has evolved and improved since then and now includes polyethylene or polypropylene fibers attached to a backing material to hold them together, which is typically urethane. The layer of fake grass carpet is installed over a porous base to allow for drainage and, in the case of sports fields, a shock-absorbing pad may be added under the turf. An important addition is the “infill” that is placed in between the blades to hold down the turf and keep the blades separated and upright. This “infill” is often “crumb rubber” from used tires but may also include sand or synthetic rubber (EPDM). In residential applications, a weed barrier is included, which may reduce some maintenance but more importantly increases the likelihood of killing the soil microbiome in the area, which will affect any living landscape adjacent to the synthetic turf. Nearly all of these products are from the petroleum or natural gas industry. They are also nearly all plastics, meaning that they are composed of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymers. See diagram below for composition:
Credit: https://www.cupertinoartificialgrass.com/
What is so bad about fake grass? Here are the key points:
When fake grass breaks down or is damaged, which happens frequently, microplastics are released into the environment. This can be especially harmful if these microplastics are released into local waterways which has happened extensively with playing fields using fake grass.
Fake grass cannot be recycled because plastics are fundamentally not recyclable AND because they are a mixture of different polymers that would be difficult to separate in an attempt to recycle them.
Fake grass can become much hotter than living grass on a warm day. Living plants cool the ambient temperature with evapotranspiration and release oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. Fake grass is not living and therefore will not cool the soil or the local environment.
Fake grass provides no habitat for any life such as insects, lizards, butterflies or hummingbirds. There is a large carbon footprint to the manufacture, transportation, and installation of fake turf. Fake grass kills the soil life underneath it’s unlike other alternatives to lawn such as bark mulch.
Fake grass is NOT low maintenance or inexpensive to install or maintain. It is true that you don’t need to mow fake grass but you may need to water it simply to flush away dirt build up or to cool it. The recommended maintenance includes spraying the fake turf daily with water to clean it, followed by raking it to remove any accumulated debris. Note that this rinsing process also will flush microplastics into the storm drain to pollute downstream waterways.
Fake grass deprives people (and animals) from contact with a natural surface.
Fake Turf and Sidewalk
As part of my exploration of fake turf, I took surface temperature readings in my neighborhood of fake turf compared to living turf as well as some other nonliving surfaces. I used a hand-held surface infared thermometer (see Resources) and the results were dramatic and very consistent. When I compared side by side living lawn with a concrete walkway or driveway in the sun, the lawn readings ranged from 74 to 78 deg F while the concrete ranged from 98 to 102 deg F. When I made the same comparison for fake turf versus adjacent concrete — both readings were 98 to 102 deg F. Ground covers of gravel or bark chips were very similar to the concrete or fake turf. It would be very interesting to compare the ambient temperature for whole blocks with large areas of living landscape versus hardscape and fake turf. These nonliving surfaces definitely contribute to the urban heat island and can be avoided!
Perhaps the most important reason that fake grass is bad and should be banned is that it deprives people (and animals) from walking (or sitting or playing on) a natural surface. A lawn or other groundcover is often the main contact with nature accessible to people living in urban areas – sitting on a living plant carpet provides an opportunity to smell and touch nature – letting a ladybug crawl on your hand, playing with a dandelion, tasting a blade of grass. This experience is only possible because of the cooling properties of a living landscape.
Luckily, all the delights of a lawn — that makes it an inviting place to entertain friends for cocktails or coffee, or to experience urban nature with a ladybug — are possible with a living and drought-tolerant lawn with many ecosystem benefits. Stay tuned for the last blog in this series on polyculture lawns!
Resources