I think fake grass looks absolutely shit and I don’t like the environmental impact but I don’t think that banning it is the solution.
Let’s see some incentives for people that keep their gardens wildlife and eco friendly like a council tax discount.
A quarter of Brits want a ban on fake grass
Submitted 2 years ago by Mex@feddit.uk to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
Comments
13esq@lemmy.world 2 years ago
thehatfox@lemmy.world 2 years ago
If we are going to ban petrol and seal cars, and oil and gas boilers, we can certainly ban fake grass.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 years ago
The environmental impact of actual grass that you keep cut is likely far worse. Preferably, grass lawns are banned generally. The expectation of keeping short grass maintained should die.
Rokk@lemmy.world 2 years ago
So you’d rather concrete jungle over lawns? I feel like if you banned grass lawns that’s what you’d get.
thehatfox@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Natural grass is a habitat and food source for many insects and small animals, and healthy plant covered soil is a natural carbon sink. Fake grass provides none of that, while creating substantial CO2 emissions in production and installation, and damaging local biodiversity.
Mex@feddit.uk 2 years ago
The American style super manicured laws with sprinklers and all maybe, but your average home lawn that gets cut on average once a month and is the home to all sorts of wild life no way.
Mex@feddit.uk 2 years ago
Tax the crap out of it, make it uneconomical for those who don’t need it.
Cqrd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 years ago
“Only rich people should have fake grass” - you
Very_Bad_Janet@kbin.social 2 years ago
What's the environmental impact of fake grass? Isn't it better than real grass because it doesn't need water or pesticides? (I don't have a grass yard or lawn so I don't know what upkeep a fake one entails.)
thehatfox@lemmy.world 2 years ago
There are a lot of environmental impacts created by far grass. For a start, they create substantial damage to local biodiversity. Real grass is home to many kinds of insects and other animals, as is the the soil beneath it. Other animals such as birds rely on those insects for food. Fake grass is a habitat and food source for nothing, and damages the soil beneath it.
Healthy plant covered soil is also a natural carbon sink, so the mere existence of fake grass contributes to CO2 buildup. The production and installation of fake grass is also carbon intensive.
Fake grass eventually degrades and requires replacement, and despite manufacture claims, recycling it is difficult and often practically impossible. The degradation of fake grass is also a source of microplastic pollution, which can be carried on the air or leach into the soil, and eventually reach water sources.
That’s just a brief summary, there’s plenty of more comprehensive information available online. The stuff is quite frankly another disaster for the environment waiting to happen. A ban can’t come soon enough. There are plenty of better options for those that need an alternative to natural grass.
echodot@feddit.uk 2 years ago
You don’t have to put pesticides on your grass you know you can just leave it.
It gets watered by the rain, and the rain falls on it regardless of if it’s real or fake or concrete. So it isn’t a waste.
Anyway it allows for drainage. One of the reasons we get so much flooding nowadays is because we’ve concreted over everything.
YungOnions@lemm.ee 2 years ago
Plastic grass supports little in the way of biodiversity and will constantly shed microplastics. Actual grass also allows the absorption of rain water into the ground below, whereas fake grass does not. This can contribute to localised flooding, and causes problems for replenishment of aquifers. All in all its awful stuff and the sooner it’s banned the better IMO.
mackwinston@feddit.uk 2 years ago
A lawn needs neither of these things, or if you choose just to have plants instead (which we did in our small garden) then that needs neither water nor pesticides. Occasionally I might pull by hand some straggly stuff, or use a small electric strimmer to tidy things up (e.g. the garden path when stuff starts growing between the paving).
Unlike artificial grass, and even though my garden is small, this spring I had two birds nesting, I see quite a lot of bees and butterflies, and I just let the ants get on with doing their business. Pesticides and herbicides are never used. If there’s a plant I don’t want growing somewhere I can pull it up manually. There’s no need for the area to be super manicured.
yata@sh.itjust.works 2 years ago
I am curious as to why you think banning it isn’t a solution? Seems like a very obvious solution to me.
13esq@lemmy.world 2 years ago
I just don’t like the idea of banning everything I don’t personally agree with.
I’d be the first to object if someone else wanted something I like banned just because they think it’s shit.
NekoRiv@lemmynsfw.com 2 years ago
There’s some fake grass that looks absolutely real. It’s just a bit pricier than most people would be willing to pay.
I’m not advocating for it, just putting it out there.
Darkard@lemmy.world 2 years ago
We have only a small space in our garden that’s quite sheltered and has poor drainage. We use that space for the dogs to do thier business and if it was real grass there it would just be a toxic shit swamp.
Also in the city near me they too up a lot of paving stones on a well travelled area and replaced it with Astonturf. Were it real grass it would be ground into a dirt track in a few days.
There are useful applications.
Hogger85b@kbin.social 2 years ago
Yep we had a small 3m square patch of paving, we tried turf and it died due to overuse with kids playing and use using it for sitting out, picnics and BBQs. The choice is deck or fake grass and fake grass is cheaper.
We have wildflower border and fake grass currently.
PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Have you ever thought about walking stones or paving stones and a hardy ground cover? I can’t imagine feeling close to nature on fake grass.
blackn1ght@feddit.uk 2 years ago
Also in the city near me they took up a lot of paving stones on a well travelled area and replaced it with Astroturf.
Why didn’t they just keep the paving stones?
Darkard@lemmy.world 2 years ago
I guess they figured it would look nicer to have the fake grass with some tall planters on it that just the larger swathe of concrete with planters on
G4Z@feddit.uk 2 years ago
I just installed one of these for my g/f in her back yard catio and I think it’s great. I play 7 a side on it twice a week.
Why would people want such a useful material ‘banned’? If you don’t like it, then don’t install it. If it doesn’t work out great, then you can always remove it.
In terms of waste, you can say that about literally everything we consume.
MostlyBirds@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Why would people want such a useful material ‘banned’?
Because it’s not actually useful, it’s just poison.
In terms of waste, you can say that about literally everything we consume.
Yeah, and we need to stop. It’s literally going to drive us to extinction, along with countless other species. This kind of apathy is disgusting.
Rokk@lemmy.world 2 years ago
It can be useful. It’s a great surface for doing any form of outdoor exercise on.
NickwithaC@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Why would people want such a useful material ‘banned’?
Because it’s fucking up the planet and if you haven’t noticed, the planet has been taking quite the beating these past 3 weeks.
In terms of waste, you can say that about literally everything we consume.
Real grass is not consumed and thinking about everything in terms of human consumption is the problem. Change your mindset.
G4Z@feddit.uk 2 years ago
Real grass is not consumed
I’m not sure what you mean by that, but in many cases people are laying it over what otherwise would be concrete, or gravel places that are not suited to a lawn.
thehatfox@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Why would people want such a useful material ‘banned’? If you don’t like it, then don’t install it.
For the same reason we are trying to phase out fossil fuels as an energy source - environmental degradation harms everyone. It’s not a matter of personal taste, it’s about protecting the planet we need to live on.
yata@sh.itjust.works 2 years ago
In terms of waste, you can say that about literally everything we consume.
So it is either all of it or nothing in your book?
Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 years ago
I stopped mowing my grass years ago and let nature take over.
Looks a bit messy for the first few years, but after a while it’s a haven for insects.
You’ve got to keep an eye so one thing doesn’t take over. Like I had to chop back and dig up the pampas grass plant, because I had no interest in being sliced to ribbons by a knife wielding triffid every day. Blackberry bushes are apparently a bitch and will take the lot so don’t have those.
I’m sure the neighbours hate it, but I don’t give a fuck what they think. My garden doesn’t need watering and was still green last year when everyone else’s garden was brown and dead in the 40 degree heat.
Sarla@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Wild gardens are basically how most gardens should be kept, so nice one there.
Arghhh@lemmy.world 2 years ago
I did exactly the same, not only it was full of insects (and mostly ladybugs and later butterflies) but the plants seemed a lot more healthy.
echodot@feddit.uk 2 years ago
Fake grass is bloody stupid.
If you don’t want to cut your lawn either let it grow into a wild flower more lawn, and pretend that that was the goal all along, and it’s not that you’re lazy.
Or dig it up and and the habit as a plant bed. At least that’s still real and not unconvincing polluting plastic.
sunbytes@lemmy.world 2 years ago
This looks like a “make me an article out of this press release article”. It’s noise-news. Clickbait pagefiller crap.
Also for the average size of a garden in the UK (median), it’s probably less plastic than a month’s worth of groceries wastes.
Cube6392@beehaw.org 2 years ago
The only arguments against fake grass are that it doesn’t look nice, and it isn’t made from sustainable materials. The arguments for fake grass include that it is low maintenance (negating some of the environmental impact), and that it is much better for people with accessibility needs.
Meanwhile, grass lawns require lots if maintenance (not good at all for the environment), aren’t good for people with accessibility needs, and look boring and unvaried. Meanwhile the upside for a grass lawn is it looks traditional. To that I say, screw tradition. Grow clover, wildflowers, moss, and edible plants in your yard. These NIMBY brit-karens fan fuck off
GeneralRetreat@beehaw.org 2 years ago
plymouth.ac.uk/…/why-are-artificial-lawns-bad-for…
Minimising the objections down to that and then writing them all off as NIMBYism is such an absurd strawman.
I agree that non traditional lawns are better, but that definitely does not include artificial pitch.
cooopsspace@infosec.pub 2 years ago
Three quarter of Brits opinions dont matter
Mex@feddit.uk 2 years ago
That is not how statistics work my friend.
niktemadur@lemmy.world 2 years ago
A quarter. And about half are still not entirely convinced that Brexit might not have been the greatest of ideas. Idiots.
SomeBloke@lemm.ee 2 years ago
guriinii@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Yes! It’s literally pollution.
For those that want but are unable to maintain a lawn due to disability or ill health then there should be a scheme by the local council to cut it for them. This could would really well if a local council leaves more public space wild also. Then the work load may reduce but not entirely.
PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Rain gardens are very popular in the Seattle area, here’s an example of community driven programs. www.12000raingardens.org
DakRalter@thelemmy.club 2 years ago
That looks great! Thanks for sharing that. Now I have to see if the UK has these.
coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Or grow (bee friendly) plants.
Biggest downside of fake grass are. The pollution from fabrication to microplastic waste. Biodiversity unfriendly and,… and! It burns your feet in a hot summer! Shit gets hot.
Artificial soccer fields really radiate heat during sunny days.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 years ago
Lawns are also a total waste. It takes so much gas to maintain a lawn that serves literally no environmental purpose. At least fake grass you don’t need to waste gas to cut.
Wild space is great though. We should be encouraging that and discouraging all lawns, fake or real.
sijt@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Gas? Why does it use gas to maintain a lawn?
echodot@feddit.uk 2 years ago
Gas?
Aux@lemmy.world 2 years ago
Wild space attracts dangerous insects like ticks. Back in my home country wild and uncut lawn is a serious administrative offence with a hefty fine.
Mex@feddit.uk 2 years ago
They literally kill the soil under them too.