Fake Lawns Are Getting More Eco-Friendly

Is this the same artificial tuff that reaches 100 degrees during the summer?

Maybe it's just me ... but I am concerned about

1) toxic runoff (cause we all know that decade+ sun-baked PET is good for people to drink water off or out of) Please note -- the limited warranty only covers 8 years but they are suggesting a life span of 12-15 for their products.

2) how these fake lawns act in relation to the urban heat island effect as compared to other plant based coverings ie ( do they help lower temps or cause them to rise) Oh wait here's their own take on it

The grass does not stay as cool as natural grass which has water running through it

Oh and yes I've heard that fake grass can help cool your rooftops ... but then again so can white paint.

I'd like some data please, not just gooey market sequels like the following from their website

Our products are not only safe, but are often safer and more healthy than natural grass.

According to the water management statistics, 75% of your monthly water bill is for outside use!

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Yes the following italicized comments are intended as sarcasm ( though some might call them nasty )
Ummmm - wow your fake grass is healthier than plants ...... oh because of special circumstances and all sorts or limited effects that you forgot to mention, got it.

Please note 75% percent of a monthly water bill for outside use is a valid number only in limited geographic regions, which ForeverLawn accidentally forgot to include because they didn't want to confuse our poor little consumer minds.

I can see this being good in places like Phoenix where the desert climate was never mean to support turf grasses (and they diverted the Colorado river in order to create the oasis in the desert that Phoenix is leading to problems like destruction of the eco system at the mouth of the river), but this seems like a bad idea in temperate climates where rain is plentiful.

I know treehugger is very anti-lawn, but I think it's a losing battle. Real lawns create oxygen, absorb heat and support helpful insect activity. They're high maintenance, but some people actually enjoy maintaining their lawns.

You have some nice points TrollPatrol but you have to realize that this is marketed towards people that live in areas where grass requires a lot of effort and resources to grow. I doubt ForeverLawn is advocating that everyone replace their grass lawns with plastic. Also as someone who spent an entire childhood grass-stained I would disagree with the author that lawns are a waste of space.

@Jim

Then their marketing should be explicit where (and why) they are aiming their product .... and just Treehugger's luck ForeverLawn has a dealer map on their website*.

*Please note I just found the map and I wish to be explicitly clear that don't intend any offense to you Jim in the comments that follow.

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This is definitely sarcasm aimed at ForeverLawn
Hmmmm New Jersey ... maybe but that doesn't seem right; Northern Ohio ... that really doesn't seem right. Coastal Washington state and southern coastal British Columbia!!!!!!! Oh God yes these places really need help saving water for grass lawns

Earlier I was going to give ForeverLawn a questioning/wary benefit of doubt - pending more information; and like Jim hoped that there were reasonable precautions taken for a company attempting to claim green status in fake lawn production and installation.

Now after seeing this map and their other marketing speak claims -- pending further information which unequivocally proves reasonable** environmental stewardship practices & corporate policy --- in my current opinion this seems a case of green washing!

** Oh and yes I am aware of the environmental benefit of fake lawns for a limited number of high-use sport fields but I can't see that being enough to support a coastal Washington or southern coastal British Columbia franchise.

This is great that there is a fake lawn that is made out of recycled material but at the same time I would hope that only places hard on growing grass would use this. Even though grass requires a lot of water it is important that we still have it just to add some more oxygen. This is more important than water usage as the world is 75% water.

Recycled fake green?

Lemme check...nope still useless!

Fake lawns?? God d**m anyone who has a fake lawn. They are an abomination, as bad as fake plants or flowers. Either have a real lawn (where water permits) or do some xeriscaping that is appropriate for your area. GOD D##M anyone who has plastic (or silk) plants and pretends they are real.

Robin Red-Breast lands, cocks his head to listen for the worm; hearing nothing he flies toward the sunrise, seeking an alternative universe that has not yet been recycled so that hungry nestlings can be fed.

For all of those that live in non-frozen Canada and about the northern half of the USA, you should look to products like 'Eco Lawn' by wild flower farms (I'm sure there are competing products, and google is your friend).

The plastic abomination should never be on someones lawn, however like the picture in the article I could see it used in playgrounds where grass just won't survive, pavement is too hard for our fabergé egg kids, and that black stuff made from recycled tires makes our kids feet catch on fire.

Wow- this is a fascinating string of posts.

First- some basic corrections on the information in the "article" which reads like an advertisement / advertorial-

The artificial grass blades in this product- which is made by another company for Foreverlawn in a factory in Georgia - are not made of any recycled plastic fibers- not any- that is a common misstatement- not sure whose to blame here- the journalists or the source- not sure if those are one and the same in this case. But this is definitely green washing- or worse, "green plating!"- Whether intentional or inadvertent.

There is some post consumer waste and renewable resources in the backing material that does play a role in adding value and quality to the product. It's called Biocel and besides in these products you can find it in products from the major manufacturer - like Synlawn for example.

The backing material you mentioned is a thin layer of fleece made from recycled PET plastic - and it constitutes a very small percentage of the overall weight of the product- what purpose does it serve? Well, in the world of synthetic grass, this type of backing was used only on this product- despite the fact that it could be used on any product- why?

One reason is that this product is sold to small dealers who then have to install it- the glues rationally used to seam artificial grass are expensive and seaming takes great training and experience.

This fleece allows the introduction of an inexpensive alternative that can be installed quickly for less money and with less skill- using a Velcro like tape system. So, is that green washing? Anyone can add a piece of recycled PET fleece to a product to up its recycled content- the question is- why and to what environmental benefit? You could put a piece of that fleece and Velcro tape on the bottom of every McDonalds fast food container- and say it's part of a system that would prevent it from sliding off your center divider console in the car- but would that justify its use and claiming it as recycled content? I think not.

The heat island effect has been studied with respect to artificial grass in yards and the results show that it actually reduces it slightly compared to other surfaces like concrete. There are studies coming out on this subject.

Grass is a problem in areas with lots of rain- for example, mud, bugs, grass stains, sand, and additional maintenance, mowing, clippings, pesticides, fertilizers and runoff.

In addition, as is typical- everyone here talks as if it is their collective right to decide what people can or should have or want. What if you kid has autism or a spectrum disorder or allergies? Synthetic grass is a big solution for those problems opening up the world of the outdoor lawn to them.

Monolithic thinking is not democratic, nor is it fair and arguably, it is part of the reason why there is not a more widespread movement towards better environmental practices.

Someone mentioned water- the movement of irrigation water is one of the largest users of power in the nation. In places like Colorado and many other regions, when it is not raining, there are water issues for landscape and irrigation.

Did you ever stop to think how much of an issue mow clippings are for landfills and dumps? Grass clippings aren’t all mulched- no can we reasonably expect any significant amount of them to be.

Last, to those who think their lawns a little oxygen factory- you may want to check the science on that- there are a whole host of variables that have to do with when you grass is actually producing oxygen and you will find tat thee are far more instances than you might imagine when it is not.

Synthetic grass is a fantastic solution for small patches of grass in people's homes, or playgrounds, or golf courses, or commercial and public spaces.

Get people moving in the right direction- xeriscape and drought tolerant has had 40 years to do that- ad has had almost no impact. Synthetic grass is moving people like nothing else has before it. Then the fine tuning can begin.

Maybe I'm just not getting it, but how is covering up the earth with plastic supposed to be environmental?

"Astroturf" is slang for greenwashing.

I don't have a lawn; I'm going to cover my FLOOR with this stuff.

...And, uh, save energy on vacuuming?

Assuming it feels like grass, of course.

To try and provide the good parts of a lawn without the bad, ForeverLawn has created a very realistic fake grass. Really? Okay lets see. Every 1 sq.m of grass lawn can remove 200g of airbourne particulates from the air every year. And every 1.5 m2 of uncut grass, produces enough oxygen per year to supply 1 human's demand.

How much of this can ForeverLawn achieve?

You can never fake nature.

This post is a good example of what's wrong with Treehugger.

I can see using small amounts of this in my urban lawn garden. Instead of having to mow or string trim between beds I could roll out strips of this stuff.

I could do mulch or something too, but having a corner lot means my backyard is always in view of the street, and the neighbors are less apt to complain and more likely to appreciate the garden if the space looks nice.

That said, I'm way to cheap to do something like that, I'd much rather do something free.

Wow... I guess we have a lot of single, east coasters on this blog.
If you ever move to the Rocky Mtns then you will learn that.
1-Grass does not grow without huge amounts of water (transported, cleaned, and pumped to your home).
2- without regular fertilizer, again transported and processed most often from petrochemicals.
3- without regular cutting and mowing, most likely with a gass mower and clippings going to landfill.
4- And most importatly it will not grow unless it is kept almost kid free. Grass dies very quickly and grows back slow here.
So what would be good is a researched comparison between fake turf and its;
Manufacturing, transportation and installation 'cost'.
Its leaching.
Compared to turf with its,
Water use, fertilizer, mowing and landfill 'costs'.
But it is evident that most of the bloggers here have no idea what the costs are of turn in the arid west. Unless you live here will not understand what no rain really means.