What is Wrong With Grass?

Have you ever wondered/contemplated why you have a relatively “nice” green lawn in front of your residence? Is it watered two or three times a week and then mowed down every other week or perhaps more frequently if you live in the South? If "things" are going well for you and your spouse; ask your spouse if your lawn serves a similar purpose more or less like a gerbil's treadmill and/or do you like to maximize operating costs for your residence of imminent domain? Are the (grass) clippings bagged and then tossed out with your garbage or at least placed roadside for pick up in a similar fashion as your garbage? Perhaps to end up a landfill station or in Florida to "grow" our new "mountains"…Is your lawn (relatively) sterile, void of most “bugs,” weeds and wildlife? Perhaps you think twice about sending any children (even your neighbor's children) out to interact with it...

The college I profess at has beautiful green lawns with many signs posted that state “Please Do Not Walk on the Lawn” I (blatantly) do at this campus of "higher" learning. What is wrong with grass? Absolutely nothing I state; however, why create such a widespread eco-system like this? It is truly madness! Now I must add my favorite color is green, I am mostly Irish and I even have green eyes. Having said that there is no excuse for us to grow/increase this type of relatively sterile, non-interactive treadmill like eco-system that depends on enormous amounts of significantly precious water to sustain it and then adds (again I say) significant amounts of bio-waste as we maintain a “short-hair” stance. Madness I say!

Why not just say No to Grass and create a better environment for us and others. One that does not require a significant amount of frequent water and chemical to sustain it. One that does add shade; thus, reducing heating/cooling costs. Perhaps one that will improve your air-quality around and in your domain (especially important if you are located in an urban area). One that will facilitate interaction/use with man and himself or even other animals like dogs and (yes, even) cats...One that will sustain itself with little effort and one that re-uses its potential landfill waste to make it even better. One that may sustain butterflies, birds, squirrels, etc. One that may even perhaps resemble something from long, long ago; a place called Eden. Why would we want to return to Eden?

To modify a phrase from Henry David Thoreau, make your yards say Xeriscape! In an attempt to be more hip; thump, thump , thump... reduce your "carbon footprint." You can even go as far as designating your yard as a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife habitat if you so desire in or out of any city...

I have attached a useful link, if you are interested in learning about this...

http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/certify.cfm?