Artificial garden lawns - what a weird world

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Another installed on our street. I just don’t understand it. Why would anyone do this?

There is a petition to ban their sale for installation in residential dwellings if you want to sign it:

It’s only got 5,900 signatures so far, which seems a pretty low number, given how much of a no brainer this is, imo. Maybe that’s just me.

petition deleted by MNHQ as we don't allow them, we're afraid.

If every person on the planet was carbon negative

Thats not technically possible at the current time. Even if we all return to pre industrial living we need shelter, heat and food.

Even if we take your post at face value, it's highly unlikely that everyone criticizing @TheKeatingFive is a vegan who never flies, only ever walks or takes public transport, never buys anything unnecessary, only ever eats locally sourced vegan food and dresses only in second-hand clothes. And is either childless or has one child. Some of them will be hypocrites - maybe not about artificial lawns, but certainly about environmental impact.

Pointing out what other posters on here to to damage the environment isn't whataboutery - it's pointing out hypocrisy.

Not to derail but Veganism is terrible for the planet

Mono cropping where vast areas of farmland are used for one thing - no room for anything else, pesticides to obliterate every insect that comes within 3 feet of said crops, soil ruination because there is only artifical fertiliser - it's fucking awful - it's just got a good PR campaign

"50 billion bees – more than seven times the world’s human population – were wiped out in just a few months during winter 2018-19" to produce just Almond milk in California - nothing else, just that god awful nutritionally defunct nut juice

Ruminants fertilise our land. Without them, we are fed on chemicals and genetically modified foods. That is a disaster.

Anyway, as you were.

I can't see all of your post to make sense of it or reply. It's been cut off. @BadLad

Not to derail but Veganism is terrible for the planet

Thats not the scientific consensus at all

I'm wondering how many of these eco warrior anti-fake grass types spend every day of their lives getting in a car to go somewhere. Or eating meat. Or making some other decision that is not in the best interests of the planet.

My gardener recommended fake turf for my small plot. Real would not stand up to children wear and tear and would be a constant patch of mud, apparently. In any event the entire back 'garden' was over a foot deep in reinforced concrete. We paid a 5 figure sum to dig out some borders and beds and add several tons of topsoil and hundreds of plants. That's my contribution to the environment - the fake turf 'plastic play surface' remains in the middle.

Oh and as for cleaning, much easier to remove cat/fox shit and dettol the offending area than grass on mud where it just blends in.

It would still benefit the planet to have far fewer people. It's highly unlikely that any time soon everybody will be carbon negative. And even if they were, having fewer people would allow for some wiggle room. Future advantageous technologies that required people to be carbon positive could be developed if there were far fewer people around.

Though that's not to say revamping of farming methods and serious reduction of meat consumption couldn't achieve a huge amount.

@hangrylady · 13/05/2022 12:55
I'm no snob. I hate it when you see posts on here looking down on other people's home decor and choices but fake grass is something that I cannot get my head around. It's not the look of it (the expensive stuff can look OK), but why would you want to remove nature from an outdoor space and cover it in plastic? I'm all for a ban, it's a shitty thing to do IMO.

Because some people can't grow a lawn for different reasons! I tried and failed four times because of the crap that was under the earth. Radiators, sinks, old pipes etc. that were dumped there when a new development went up on land that once belonged to my house. Put an artificial lawn down to cover what was by now a complete mud patch and it was like adding an extra beautiful room to the house where the kids could play without treading mud through the house every time they went in the garden.
Just accept that not everyone shares the same views. I have a 'real' lawn at the front so it's not as if I just can't be bothered to cut it. It's a necessity and beats having it paved over.

I thought it might be Mumsnet's drunk filter, but it's showing for me.

All human farming methods are destructive on this scale. Eutrophication, methane, habitat loss, transportation, waste, monocultures, Fred for animals. It's unavoidable in global food production, both are bad. Need urban farming/localism.

there are many things you can do with concrete, which is not a bad thing at all, many species need bare ground and earth like concrete for basking areas, clear areas for breeding. Mosses and lichens will take advantage of this, any cracks or crevices will breed many types of herbs and plants including orchids.

You can always approach it, just as you would a green roof, see link
cdn.buglife.org.uk/2019/07/Creating-Green-Roofs-for-Invertebrates_Best-practice-guidance.pdf

Virtually all species need a mosaic of habitats that are directly linked to fulfil their life functions including the eco-tones (the transitional areas between habitus and substrates). By removing parts of this mosaic you prevents their life cycle.

Back to your artificial grass, it does leach micro plastics and chemicals into the surrounding areas and food web. By micro invertebrates, all the tiny microscopic creatures that live both above ground and below, and the build up of plastic from this goes up the food chain. The Chemicals will leach into surrounding soils and into ground waters, along with the micro plastics and chemicals from every other person in the catchment area which is huge. many of these chemicals build up gradually over time and are magnified and will react with other chemicals from other sources and create toxic mixes affecting water ways oceans and our drinking water.

Micro plastics in water, gets in to water ways and affects all aquatic life from macroinvertebrates to fish fry up to birds and traces are even found in artic mammals and birds. These also get into our oceans that affect plankton that provide most of our oxygen and climate systems.

There I tried to be helpful.

And irrigation and heating. Everything is bad for the environment, so let's do nothing

"darisdet
I can't see all of your post to make sense of it or reply. It's been cut off. @BadLad I thought it might be Mumsnet's drunk filter, but it's showing fo"

And this one has been cut off.

My gardener recommended fake turf for my small plot.

Your gardener, just that though a gardener. He`s employed to understand ecology or an environmental scientist is he, Its akin to asking a petrol station attendant about the engine in your car.

Should be illegal really !

Cheeseplant72

Thank you.

@darisdet Have you tried a different Browser or incognito window ?

And irrigation and heating. Everything is bad for the environment, so let's do nothing

No, absolutely not.

Not let's do nothing. Let's do what works for us at an individual level to reduce our overall impact. Because that's how to get people's buy in.

At last, someone who isn't defensive and is open-minded. Hurrah.

Thats doing nothing. If you can't sacrifice flying twice a year or plastic grass etc, you're not going to be doing anything else...

I can probably guess what's next... it's the big corporations fault- like easyJet, and plastic grass co. Nothing to do with consumers ofc

The whole of MN is cutting off posts and blending paragraphs together at the moment, on the app at least. MN are working on it

@RichardOsmansXraySpecs Ah no problem, I'm using it on one of my screens on my pc whilst working, not on the app.

@Cheeseplant72

Are you suggesting that reinforced concrete is preferred to plastic grass? Or are you offering to pay thousands to dig it up and replant it? Unlike others, my garden had an environmental net gain when I replanted some of it.

Also, I am 45 and have never owned a car. Never driven. This is already a significant contribution to a reduced carbon footprint. I'd say that was far more significant than 5m x5m of turf.

Agree it looks horrible and too neat however it has its place. I know a family who had it done for their son who has cerebral palsy se he could sit in the grass and it was soft enough that he could move in it. My elderly neighbours had it as they love their garden but aren’t able to mow it anymore,