http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/middlebury-college-launches-no-mow-program.php
"The "No Mow" program launched at Middlebury College began this year as one more way for the college campus to go green, no pun intended. There are 75 acres of lawn on the main campus at Middlebury. This requires 7 people to mow 7 hours a day for 3 straight days just to get all of that grass cut down. Their plan instead is to save 20 acres from being cut, allowing wildflowers and other native grasses to grow freely. This saves not only gas, but also cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions generated from all of those hours (and days) of driving lawn mowers around. The school estimates 670 gallons of fuel and 1000 hours of labor will be saved simply by keeping some areas off limits from lawnmowers."This reminds me of a piece which I wrote and tried to post all over the internet called "Why you shouldn't mow your lawn (or parts of your college campus)." I thought I would repost it here because I still like the idea for it's shear craziness and yet complete plausibility.
*** No Mow
My idea is simple: we stop mowing our lawns, let the land return to nature, and make it a fashion statement.
Why do we spend so much effort, time, money, and carbon dioxide to keep our grass short? Who decided that was beautiful? Think of all the chemicals people poor on their yards to kill weeds and the amount of water wasted to keep them marginally green during the hot summer. Think of all the fossil fuels burned in non-hybird lawn mowers, weed whackers, and tractors. Think of all local wildlife that are losing their habitat to development and these “green” lawns. And why? Mostly because short grass is supposedly better looking than natural prairie and wildflowers.
We need to change the way people think… about their lawns.
Small engines can be extreme polluters. The EPA states that ‘using a commercial chainsaw—powered by a two-stroke engine—for two hours produces the same amount of smog-forming hydrocarbon emissions as driving ten 1995 cars about 250 miles each.’[1] Think of how many people are mowing there yards! Mowing lawns is a major cause of air pollution and CO2! Look into it!
But even worse than the air pollution is the biggest problem caused by mowing, it keeps nature from growing. People have long realized that cutting down the Amazon Rainforest is bad, but they have yet to extend that same sense of responsibility to the area in which they live. For example, the prairie lands of Midwestern America. When Farmland is abandoned near the Amazon Rainforest, the forest takes over. The same would happen with our yards. We could restore the grasslands, let forests begin to take over are yards and give up trying to fight back nature. But no! We have to cut, and weed, and spray with chemicals! And then waste water in vain efforts to keep our grass marginally green during the summer!
All to keep nature at bay!
If we stopped mowing our lawns, in time grass lands and forests would begin to take over millions of acres of currently mowed lawns. This is good both for fighting Climate Change and helping to restore local ecosystems. The return of natural habitats even if they are close to houses will help local wildlife by giving them more space to live in, as well as assisting in future species migrations due to climate change.
Most importantly, it will send a message to the next generation… that instead of trying to dominate nature by mowing it down and spraying it with chemicals to kill anything that isn’t grass, we should instead be living in harmony with it, and learning from it.
Yes, in theory, it’s a great idea if people stop mowing their lawns, but how do we instigate this change on a wide enough level? Mowing lawns is so ingrained within our culture that surly it will be hard to get people to change? Wrong!
We can instigate this on a wide enough level, and that’s where the second part of my idea comes in. We make it the new fashion. First, we spread the idea among the Eco-conscious blog-o-sphere, and then we harness press and the TV. What is needed is to get gardening magazines and designers on board, and to put TV shows like “extreme home makeover” onto a more ‘natural’ philosophy. Some celebrities should get in on it too. The power of Fashion should not be underestimated: where I live in England it has been engrained in people’s heads that they should reuse plastic bags because frankly, if you ask for a bag, they look at you funny and you feel the need to give some excuse as to why you are destroying the environment. Why do many people spend a lot of time and money to mow their lawns? True, some people enjoy it, but mostly because they think the neighbours will think they’re being lazy and negligent. But what if their neighbours thought they were being virtuous, fashionable, and green? Honestly, it is time for our world to discover the wonders of a new type of lawn care… caring for the Environment. Don’t mow your lawn. Let’s start a movement. : )
Hey Jake! Put J. Miller Rampant in your blog roll!
ReplyDeleteBTW, if I didn't mow our yard, we would be swallowed up. The property had 12 foot tall guinea grass when we bought it. Sometimes you gotta mow.
Start with one area not the whole yard. Maybe the area furthest from your house.
DeleteI'll admit I wrote this awhile ago, and it's quite naive. But the whole point of this IS that your yard would be swallowed up.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a follow up post because the idea of mowing is very ingrained in peoples heads. We need to change the way we think about our yards. This might mean getting a new type of grass that doesn't have to be mowed or watered as much (these "eco grasses" are already starting to come out), or it might mean trying to restore parts of your yard to a more "natural state."
***
The most important part of this idea is not that we switch over to electric mowers, stop using so many chemicals, or merely plant some more trees-- though these are very good ideas. The bigger point is to let things grow.
When you cut your grass you are preventing things from growing. When I was little sometimes I would be lazy in carrying out weekly chore of weed-wacking. I often found that close to the trees in our yard were smaller saplings, but I cut them down. They could have been trees, but they were mowed over. And yet one time, I made a point of letting one of the saplings grow--and it grew into a tree.
I could have mowed over it.
With forests endangered all over the planet? Why can't we grow them on our yards?
Imagine if the huge cattle farms that are responsible for so much deforestation of the Amazon stopped, and retreated from "their" land. It would grow back. The same will happen with suburban sprawl. If we stop mowing the grass, and plant lots of trees then we could make a huge difference! It makes sense.
I think it's about time we changed the aesthetic of suburbia. In my last post, I touched on ways in which our cult or the green yard is harmful to the environment. There is much to say on this topic of course, in summary; "Think of all the chemicals people poor on their yards to kill weeds and the amount of water wasted to keep them marginally green during the hot summer. Think of all the fossil fuels burned in non-hybird lawn mowers, weed whackers, and tractors. Think of all local wildlife that are losing their habitat to development and these “green” lawns." But I don't think people, at least in the green community are in much disagreement about this part. The challenge is getting people to change the way they think about their lawns.
Community planning committees have rules saying that grass must be mowed, bushes trimmed, and everything kept according to a certain standard of orderliness. I don't see this as a problem, this could easily change. But for that to happen, enough people will have to change the way they think. We need to change what the standard of orderliness is--this has happened and is happening in countless other cases; old ideas and norms are constantly being replaced by new greener ones.
Most importantly, we need to find a way for lawns to be environmentally friendly and yet pleasing to the eye. I want to develop a new style... one that doesn't require watering, or chemicals or mowing. I think the natural look could really catch on, but getting there is definitely a process. Houses, in my opinion look much better when surrounded by woods or grasses. But it's the transition stages... no one's written the book on this yet (oh the opportunities!). There are many questions that remain, even in my mind: how do we ensure that we are growing things that grew in our yards before they were our yards... and how do we make this look beautiful and appealing even to people who are the most staunch mowers?
In conclusion, the main point I'm trying to get across is this:
If we are really serious about combating climate change and the destruction of the environment, then we need to let things grow. And what better place than in our yards!
This whole concept of cutting and grooming a lawn has always kind of struck my curiosity and puzzled me from a logical standpoint. I live in a city where houses are tightly packed together with very small lawns. But people apparently spend a lot of time and effort at keeping their lawns impeccably cut and groomed. What goes with this?
ReplyDeleteI see this whole exercise of keeping the immaculate lawn as serving some sort of psychological need. Is this "expression" in response to some other kind of suppression that's seeking an outlet? Does having a really great lawn make one better than the next door neighbor who only has a pretty good lawn? It's just something I could never quite figure out.
Thanks for the article and the logical insight. It sounds like not mowing really has a large green payoff.
Mr. Hartnell I was wondering if I could quote you. I whole heartily agree with your idea of not mowing and letting nature take over. I believe letting things grow naturally according to the environment/nature is the way God meant things to be. He artistically created perfection in nature and we have, for some reason, decided to alter what He designed. His design was made to evolve naturally into what we have named the ecosystem, so why did we come to the conclusion that we have to replace nature with mowed lawns, trimmed trees, and weed-free gardens? All of which are harmful to the ecosystem. May I quote you?
ReplyDeleteThe problem here in Nashville Tn is that some old man from the codes department will slap a huge fine on you for not mowing. So the only thing one can do here is kill all the grass and plant ground cover and trees all over the yard. This would look good. The code should be "lawns are prohibited except for sports fields". www.partnerfacts.com
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ReplyDeleteThe blade is designed to keep the clippings circulating below the mower until the clippings are chopped quite small. http://www.howdoesyourgardenmow.com/
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