Uncle says that the bottled water at the gas station is more
expensive than the gasoline. We but
water tanks, water filters, water jugs and water piks. We get our water boiled, distilled,
chlorinated, oxidized and brewed. Home,
health, and industry depend on clean water.
But we overlook Mother Nature’s most important water filter. We even walk all over it.
Thousands of billions of grass plants protect our earth and
filter our groundwater. In an average
10,000 square foot lawn, there are 8 million individual grass plants. These tightly growing grass leaves are
responsible for the photosynthesis that makes the grass plant grow, and in the
process, they exchange the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for clean, pure
oxygen.
Also, the tightly knit grass carpet traps urban air
pollutants so that they are not recycled into the atmosphere. The worst of these include ozone, hydrogen
fluoride, sulfur dioxide and peroxyacetyl nitrate. They are all absorbed, recycled, and made
harmless by transformation of turfgrass.
Science has no filter as efficient as grass.
Below ground grassroots are even more impressive. A single grass plant can generate millions of
individual roots that weave miles of individual fibers. Multiplied by 8 million plants, this forms a
massive underground filter which traps and digests atmospheric pollutants.
This root mass is home to billions of microorganisms which
work together to build up the humus and soil fertility and reduce carbon
dioxide. This complex organic system
transforms lawn fertilizers and herbicides into healthy plants and good organic
matter. It is grass that filters our
groundwater and regenerates the deep black soils so prized by gardeners. The thick black soils of the world are found
in our prairies, not in our rain forests.
See Related: Healthy Lawn Contributes to Cleaner Water
See Related: Healthy Lawn Contributes to Cleaner Water
The rain that falls on the streets and parking lots of our
cities quickly runs off to rivers and streams.
This runoff is not filtered by urban lawns but carries with it vehicle
and industrial residue. In the United
States, there are some 40 million acres of turfgrass. Each acre captures an average of 600,000
gallons of groundwater recharge every year.
In modern urban design, if we want more clean water, we need more
healthy green grass.
The Emperors of China and Rome, the Mayans, and the Aztecs,
the ancient Persians, the Kings of England and France, all valued turfgrass in
the design of their cities and palaces.
Some modern architects and urban planners have forgotten these ancient lessons.
Today there is a misguided notion that cities need more concrete and less
grass. They need a little more science.
They also need to talk to more eight-year-olds. When its time to play
ball, everyone would rather play on grass.
