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I felt the need to write this post in the response to the ten people this week I've seen install sod in my neighborhood. More and more people are installing lawns like you would install carpet using sod. Literally unrolling sod and in about two hours they suddenly have a green lawn.
Sod Versus Seed Grass
But sod is truly no better than seed grass when it comes to the environment. The carbon released by soil disruption in sod harvesting, and the carbon released in shipping dirt and grass versus seed alone make sod a real problem. Regardless of which method of grass production you are interested in, it is probable wetlands were drained in its production. The fertile fields from which sod is produced are often old peat bogs and marshlands. This is totally devastating to entire ecosystems. Even worse, sod uses tons and tons of water. My stomach just churns watching my neighbor water and water his sod lawn. Such a waste with so little to show for it.
Our Obsession With Lawns
Americans can't seem to give up their expansive lawns and sod is just another means to achieving that perfect green Mecca. According to Environmental Defense Fund, in 1999, homeowners dumped nearly 50 million pounds of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers on their lawns. And in mowing lawns, we produced as much pollution every half hour as a car driven 172 miles. Americans still cling to the single largest irrigated crop in America, our nearly 50,000 squares miles of lawns.
Consider Delawning
Lawns could be considered the single largest irrigated crop in America, in terms of surface area, consuming a third of all residential water use. Imagine, as Food Not Lawns does, each house not with a lawn but instead with a small organic "Victory" garden from which the family is fed. Read Planet Green's guide to delawning.
More on Sustainable Lawn Care:
Do You Have a "Green" Thumb? Take our Green Garden Quiz
Lawn Care
Green Your Yard, Part 2: Rethinking the Backyard
Book Review - Food Not Lawns
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