Lawn

 A lawn is a concept developed by the English aristocracy. Big open areas of green, populated by grass that must be watered, cut, and cared for on a regular basis. The average cost of lawn care services can run somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 per week, which means you can spend anywhere from between $120-150 per month.

Lawns are a mainstay of the American culture, and we derive many benefits from them. However, they come with a cost to the consumer and to the environment. Here are some topics to explore related to lawns:

Energy resource use

• Use of mowers, blowers, and other lawn maintenance equipment
• Energy resource use to manufacture and transport chemicals and equipment

Pollution and contamination

• Lawn equipment  emissions
• Run-off of lawn treatments into streams
• Contamination of ground water from lawn treatments
• Soil contamination from lawn treatments
• Effects of fertilizer run off
• Impacts and persistence of herbicides, and other toxins, including poisoning risk for humans and other non-target species

Resource depletion

• Native species reduction from lawn treatments
• Depletion of fresh water reserves due to watering
• Native habitat destruction
• Introduction of invasive species

Related Research

Huhta, A.-P. & Rautio, P. (1988). Evaluating the impacts of mowing: a case study comparing managed and abandoned meadow patches. Ann. Bot. Fennici 35: 85–99. Retrieved March 2, 2005 from
http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anbf35/anbf35-085p.pdf

Rosen, C. J. &  White, D. B. (1999). Preventing pollution problems from lawn and garden fertilizers. University of Minnesota Extension Service. Retrieved March 2, 2005 from  http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG2923.html

Kerns, W.,  Luna, J., May, J., Relf, D., & Thunberg, E. (1996). Groundwater quality and the use of lawn and garden chemicals by homeowners. Virginia State University, Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication No. 426-059. Retrieved March 2, 2005 from
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/envirohort/426-059/426-059.html

duluthstreams.org (n.d.) Lawn fertilizer doesn't just fertilize lawns. Retrieved March 2, 2005 from
http://www.duluthstreams.org/understanding/impact_fertilizer.html

Municipalities taking steps to reduce the environmental impacts of lawn technology: http://www.nwnews.com/editions/1999/19990503/nnfront3.html)

Other Lawn Resources

Wikipedia definition (click here)