In my suburb there are a few new street verge covers made of plastic lawn. Are these treatments environmentally responsible?
Plastic lawn of course uses less water, no fertiliser and doesn’t require energy for mowing. In these respects it seems to have less environmental impact. However a full life- cycle analysis shows that:
- It takes an very large amount of water, energy and labour to manufacture and ship the material
- The polymer plastics used are not bio- degradable, so they end up as land- fill or worse
- Eventual degradation releases environmental toxins to leach into the groundwater, our drinking water
- Plastic lawn surfaces are twenty degrees or more hotter than natural lawn or ground- cover: not good for the family, street or community
- The bright green surface year- round looks very un- natural
- Rain water runs off plastic lawn, to the drain and river, whereas planted ground- cover promotes infiltration to replenish our groundwater supplies
- The soil under good planted cover contains a healthy balance of bacteria, insects, ants and worms; the soil under plastic lawn is sterile
- A live ground cover uses CO2 and produces oxygen, plastic lawn does not
- A badly- maintained plastic lawn looks just as bad as a neglected verge, only made of plastic
- In a flood event the plastic mat will wash away and add to river pollution for a very long time
- A street verge is a public place, shared by neighbours, kids, dogs, birds and pedestrians. Plastic lawn is neither pleasant nor healthy for any of these users
Personally, I’d rather see good native ground- cover before lawn, for reasons of water and energy efficiency, because of Hay Fever, the birds and because of reduced fertiliser use, benefiting the river. There are quite a few lawn- alternatives; click here and here for some of them.
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4 comments:
My calculations indicate its much better in the long run to use plastic lawn than spend a fortune on new lawn,ongoing fertilizer, wetta soil, water, and mowing. Or to leave verges as untidy sand and weed piles that ruin the streetscape of a lot of perth. Other option is for more verge paving instead of silly lawn /sand strips.
At a time when we are doing away with plastic wrappings and bags why would want to promote more plastics such as unsightly plastic lawn, are we taking one step forward and two steps backward.
I think that the idea of plastic lawn for sports ovals could be on to something. Could be very versatile. For example, rolled up at the end of the game and tucked away to prevent theft.
Also, an enterprising neoliberal sports club could quickly adapt this portability into a good little fund-raiser by hiring it out when not in use. I would think that a good market plan could find many more locations than the Pilbara. Why not the beach? And certainly, now that climate change is reducing our snowy inclines, a quick roll out of the plastic grass on those more soggy days would provide a good bit of footy as a distraction for those disappointed skiers. The term 'upfield' would take on a whole new meaning.
Disadvantages relating to aquifer recharge could easily be overcome by making it multi-purpose - in case of rain quickly whip up the plastic grass and, with the simple addition of a few poles, convert it into a marquee. Perfect to shelter under.
excellent Pete, nice blog. great to see other people thinking the same way.
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