Weed laws are not only existent, but in some areas, still upheld and subject to a hefty fine if violated. These rules and regulations were written back when a neatly groomed turf became the grounds for suburban assimilation. In more recent years, the resource consumption of said lawns has become a ridiculous amount to pay for a concept as accommodating as lawn appeal.
Today, homeowners (or better yet, lawnowners) are not only more environmentally conscious, they’re also smarter. Artificial grass saves resources and time and on top of that, is far cheaper in the long-run than natural grass.
Let’s do a good old comparison of the real deal versus the new deal.
Reasons Artificial Grass is Amazing
There’s nothing like the secret pleasure of enjoying something real and there’s nothing wrong with that.
There are three reasons people are switching to artificial lawns and these are 1) saving on water consumption, 2) the chemical inputs of a natural lawn, and 3) the expense and environmental pollution created by lawn equipment. If it weren’t for these things, I’d be right there beside you, face down on that freshly-mown lawn.
So what’s so great about natural grass anyway?
Well, for one, there’s the All-Americanness of an aromatic green lawn. That whole grass-is-greener is the competitive side of the American dream and the smell of freshly cut grass is the stuff of our childhoods. Real grass just has content.
Also, there’s an outdoorsy aspect to a nice, healthy lawn. As opposed to a synthetic lawn, natural lawns actually have a cooling effect, which can make summers lying on the grass a slice of heaven.
Natural grass is also a living thing and produces nourishing byproducts like oxygen (50 square feet of natural grass produces enough oxygen to sustain four human beings’ needs). Natural grass is also beneficial to organic life and can help prevent soil erosion by generating organic matter and hosting a huge diversity of microorganisms.
… and that’s it for what’s great about natural grass. More than anything, it’s like a nice, hot plate of comfort food. It just makes you feel good to have it.
Reasons Artificial Grass is Amazing
Artificial grass may not smell like sweet, delicious, care-free childhood, but it is so convenient, so beautiful, and so environmentally conscious that it may be even better than the real thing.
Americans are completely obsessed with their lawns and we know this because we’ve gauged the whole grass behavior from an alien standpoint; An alien, looking at the United States from above, would take one look at the time and money we spend on our lawns and immediately assume that the stuff was grown for food or profit. Upon discovering that we attend grass simply for its aesthetic value, it wouldn’t be a matter of question to them that we should opt instead, for artificial grass.
Artificial grass is not pretentious- it is designed with integrity and that integrity is aestheticism. It also consumes far less natural resources than natural lawns. I don’t know about you, but 10,000 gallons of water- not rainwater, mind you, is a bit excessive for the purpose of having a good looking lawn. Add to this the 90 million pounds of chemicals we dump on natural lawns to kill the pests, kill the weeds and kill the herbs, and you’re looking at a serious issue.
You hear people talking about the microorganisms and life of real grass, but most of these people (and some aren’t, I admit) are drowning their lawns in chemicals, suffocating any life right on the birthing bed. Also, we might add, that since a good chunk of these chemicals end up in our local water supply, the concern for life seems a bit selective and convenient.
Artificial grass does not need any chemicals to inhibit unnecessary growth because it is synthetic and does not harbor organic matter. While this may conjure up images of barren soil and unmet potential, it also saves you the economic cost of chemical input as well as the environmental guilt of using chemicals on a living organism (or many, if you’re accepting that “cide” basically means you’re killing off a bunch of tiny critters.
Artificial grass is also great because you don’t have to buy expensive lawn equipment like a lawn mower or a fancy sprinkler system. It also means that you don’t have to be out there watering and mowing- or pay anyone else to do it.
Artificial Grass vs. Natural Grass: The Final Comparison
Both artificial grass and real grass have their attributes and faults and when it comes down to the bottom line, it really depends on personal preference.
If you really want your children to run across real grass and experience the smells and textures it creates, it is entirely possible to enjoy an organic, environmentally-friendly, natural lawn. It won’t be as pretty or as lush, but the grass will be real and the environmental cost significantly lower than a traditional, all-American lawn.
There are tentative concerns about the rubber infill used on synthetic lawns and the effects of exposure to interactive synthetic materials. That being said, artificial grass has been tested for years and more detailed studies about specific brands wouldn’t hurt, the scientific community has deemed up until this point that artificial turf poses less of a chemical threat to humans than the daily exposure to our regular environment.