Green Lawn: A Monument to Suburbanites Recreational Activities
by Kathreen Ricketson, Canberra, Australia on 07. 4.07
Portia Munson's work Green Piece: Lawn is a colourful display of consumer waste products. She collects and catalogues man made plastic garbage to create a tension between the artificial and natural within our consumerist leisure obsessed society. She says "we as a culture are defined by the objects we mass-produce, consume, and throw away. ...[this current work] “Lawn” is made up of found green plastic objects laid out in patches of greens resembling a suburban lawn. ... We think of the lawn as a natural phenomenon, but really, it is a man-made thing. It is said that the lawn is the biggest agricultural crop in the country." Portia Munson, Green, was as P.P.O.W gallery Jan 5 - Feb 3 2007.
Check these other recent TreeHugger stories on art with a environmental message: Recycled Public Art, the tree museum, and the pet project.
Tear up the lawn. It's a huge waste of money - but whatever you do - don't replace it with river rock. So many in my neighborhood are doing just that and it is raising the temperature of the area. The rocks both reflect the sunlight and hold on to the heat and act like a sauna. It is brutal.
Remove your grass, lay down some pine mulch and plant trees and shrubs. Coniferous on the North and Deciduous on the South.... trees need little water and will shade your house and reduce the need for airconditioning. In about 3 years you will be living in a park, (or better yet an urban forest) www.go-offgrid.com
My neighbor down the street just put in a fake astro turf lawn!
Talk about not getting it....
People could also plant some vegetables like aspartagus, bets, tomatoes and aromatic herbs. There's a lot of vegetables that don't need much work. An alternative to fencing is to use wires and grape producing vines on them. after 2 years it will look like a green wall giving a lot of fruits for you and your neighbours.