On August 9th, The New York Times posted an article with the following headline, “The Great American Lawn: How the Dream Was Manufactured.”
The article states:
America’s manicured front lawns represent the pride of homeownership, and the cultivation of community. But the ways we maintain them risk hurting the environment and contributing to climate change.
What? The article then goes on to provide a list of sources you can consult to show how evil your lawn is. Good grief.
The article concludes:
More Lawn Coverage from the Times
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The Times’ “Climate Fwd:” newsletter published some tips on how to lessen your lawn care’s environmental impact.
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Our Real Estate columnist Ronda Kaysen explained why she’s done mowing her lawn.
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If you do mow your lawn, here’s a way to practice meditation as you go.
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Finally, as mentioned in the video, here’s The Times’ coverage of former President Theodore Roosevelt mowing his lawn in 1914.
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The implication here is that mowing your lawn is the problem. I suspect that the article also cites some of the lawn products people use to control weeds that are considered a problem.
Let’s talk about the good things a lawn provides–a place for the family to play. A well-maintained lawn is less likely to be a home for animals that are harmful to people. In the 1970’s there was a lot of concern about the ‘greenhouse effect.’ The basic theory was that because we have paved so many areas of the world, we were overheating the planet. The suggested cure for that was planting more grass and trees.
I wish these people would make up their minds.