Water your lawn less and reap the eco-benefits
Water your lawn less and reap the eco-benefits
Monday, April 13, 2009
By Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune
.........Too much watering also pushes grass to grow faster. Lay off the sprinkler and you can mow less often.
What happens to water that your grass doesn't need and can't soak up? It runs off into storm drains and, combined with sewage, increases the load on treatment plants. If you're also overfertilizing, as many people do, the runoff can carry nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute rivers and lakes.
There are other environmental costs. The water from your outdoor faucet had to be taken from Lake Michigan or a well; filtered; treated with chemicals to make it safe enough to drink and pumped to your house, at a cost in energy as well as tax dollars. Using potable water for lawns is wasteful, and "your lawn doesn't really need fluoride," said Debra Shore, commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago............
Monday, April 13, 2009
By Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune
.........Too much watering also pushes grass to grow faster. Lay off the sprinkler and you can mow less often.
What happens to water that your grass doesn't need and can't soak up? It runs off into storm drains and, combined with sewage, increases the load on treatment plants. If you're also overfertilizing, as many people do, the runoff can carry nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute rivers and lakes.
There are other environmental costs. The water from your outdoor faucet had to be taken from Lake Michigan or a well; filtered; treated with chemicals to make it safe enough to drink and pumped to your house, at a cost in energy as well as tax dollars. Using potable water for lawns is wasteful, and "your lawn doesn't really need fluoride," said Debra Shore, commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago............
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