Lawn Be Gone
A lawn-reform organization is dedicated to the environmental concerns surrounding lawns.
By Krissa Smith, Assistant Web Editor, Urban Farm magazine
Courtesy Stock.XCHNG
The Lawn Reform Coalition is an organization that urges landowners to use their lawns in environmentally friendly ways, such as growing plants instead of grass.
When it comes to lawns, brown is the new green. The Lawn Reform Coalition, a group of nine gardening and environmental advocates from across the country, take the brown dream and give you the tools to achieve the environmentally friendly lawn of this decade.
“The biggest problem is from the lawn care, not the lawn itself,” explains member and gardening coach Susan Harris. “It’s the type of lawn care that has been hurting our lawns and water. We’re promoting ‘Freedom Lawn’ — let it be what it wants it to be.”
The Lawn Reform Coalition members pool their knowledge of solutions to the problems caused by a lawn culture that demands perfection, conformity, and over-use of water, fertilizer and pesticides.
“Our group is very loose — more of a compilation of resources,” Harris says. “What this coalition is about is individuality. That’s where it’s happening.”
Since launching the site in September 2009, Harris says the website has attracted activists, writers and bloggers who are passionate about proper lawn care: “They know it’s needed. So many people hear all this about how many times to apply all this crap in the spring, and most believe it. Why not? Many [lawn-care professionals] are still recommending all that. We hope to see that change.”
Harris says part of the organization’s goal is to show examples of lawns, and specifically, lawnless city yards. They are encouraging people to grow plants instead of lawns.
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