The 800 Pound Gorilla in our Backyards

1. The 800 Pound Gorilla in our Backyards

2. A high level of American’s interaction with the environment occurs here – need to teach the right lessons Third largest “crop” in the U.S. – and growing! Especially important for urban watersheds like the N.W. Branch – can be the major source of pollutants Why Focus on the Suburban Lawn?

3. Imported from Europe – is an artificial ecosystem Only able to become widespread because of technological innovations The Lawn Ecosystem in the U.S.

4. The National Costs of the Lawn Ecosystem • Americans spend 25 Billion dollars a year on landscaping • $100 for every person in the country • $380 for every household

5. The average homeowner spends six times more per hectare on yard care than the average farmer spends tending crops. The Costs Associated with Lawn Care

6. An ecological footprint is a way of translating the environmental impacts of an activity into the land needed to sustain that activity ad infinitum The Ecological Footprint Concept

7. Input Total Energy Use (GJ) Total Footprint (Hectares) Footprint per Hectare (Hectares) Pennsylvania National Pennsylvania National Pennsylvania National Land N/A N/A 548,350 11,600,000 1.0 1.0 Water 7.7x105 6.1x106 9,625 76,500 0.018 0.007 Fuel 6.8x106 9.1x107 85,000 1,138,000 0.155 0.098 Machine Production 8.8x105 4.4x107 11,000 550,000 0.02 0.047 Fertilizer Production 1.4x106 1.32x107 17,500 165,000 0.032 0.014 Pesticide Production 4.8x105 4.8x106 600 60,000 0.001 0.004 Total 1.03x107 1.59x108 672,075 13,589,500 1.226 1.170 Ecological Footprint of the Lawn at the National and State Level • Nationally we use enough energy in lawn care every year to supply 1.5 million American households with power for a year. • 1/5 hectare of land is needed to provide enough energy to care for one hectare of lawn

8. Input Particulate Matter per Hectare NOx and HC's per Hectare Total CO per Hectare Total CO2 per Hectare Total NH3 per Hectare National 11.5 kg/yr. 403 kg/yr. 1,910 kg/yr. 806 kg/yr. 0.017 kg/yr. PA 14 kg/yr. 540 kg/yr. 2,537 kg/yr. 1,082 kg/yr. 0.032 kg/yr. Estimated National and State Level Air Pollution from Lawn Care • Although used infrequently, lawn equipment creates a significant amount of air pollution because small engine emission standards are more lenient than large engine standards. • Lawn equipment produces between 10-30 times as much air pollution per liter of gas as a car.

9. The Lawn’s Impact on Biota • Very few studies on this topic • Studies show that urban growth favors generalist and exotic species

10. Comparison of Biota with Different Maintenance Regimes

11. 1/5 of all pesticides are used on lawns – 10x higher than farmer’s use 10 percent of water pollution comes from lawn care 1/3 of household water use is used in lawn care Impacts of Lawns on Soil & Water

12. Rain water infiltration is 2.5 greater in natural fields than the compacted lawns of suburbia Reduces groundwater recharge Makes streams more flashy Increases erosion rates Runoff and Soil Loss

13. Solutions Grow from a Sense of Place – Design for the Place Where You Live Use poorly draining land as a pond or install a rain garden there What to do?

14. Design and maintain yard using ecological accounting Example: Integrated pest management vs. pesticides What to do?

15. Design and maintain yards with Nature instead of against it Example: yard waste – compost vs. landfill What to do?

16. What to do? • Make nature visible • People become interested in nature through their yards & parks • Helps them make the connection between themselves and the environment around them

17. Rain Barrels Composters Concrete Examples

18. Urban Shared Gardens Rain Gardens More Examples

19. Reduce lawn sizes Eliminate exotics/plant perennials & natives Still more

20. Green roofs Plant trees More Examples