So how do we humans react to Green Concrete? What else? We turn it into a money making proposition. We pay to have it "installed"; we fertilize it to make it greener; we buy water to keep it green; we spend MILLIONS of dollars for toys to keep it in its place; we use MILLIONS of gallons of oil and natural gas products to maintain it and then complain because it makes us work TOO hard.
The modern American landscape is covered with Green Concrete. We raise 40 million acres of it (you can call it lawn, I prefer green concrete) every year. Have you tried eating the grass in your yard lately? Right , it tastes awful. Guess what, nothing eats it unless you import sheep or cows. Oh, I take that back---Canada Geese love it and you can find lots of poop as evidence.
The only thing more sterile than the American lawn is concrete or blacktop. If a "weed" or "bug" appears we spray it. We add fertilizer to make it greener. We water it when it gets dry and complain when we have to mow it.
Why not "plant" green astro-turf?---it stays green, needs no water or fertilizer and you never have to mow it. Damages from lawn maintenance: The fertilizers and sprays pollute our water ways; the fumes from the mowers create air pollution; the fuels and chemicals used to maintain it are mostly derived from fossil fuels; the noise is annoying and damaging to our hearing; watering lawns is a waste of precious water; turf absorbs very little runoff from rain storms; and worst of all, almost nothing can use it as a home.
So, I say look at your landscape and eliminate some of your lawn. Replace it with native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses. The changes will amaze you. You will get insects, birds, mammals and other creatures visiting you and enjoying the habitat that your work has created. Join the native plant movement.
Your world will thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment