Tag Archive for 'Artificial Grass'

Lawnmowers vs Artificial Grass

Published on March 20, 2010 in Artificial Grass, Artificial Lawn, Green and bay area. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

So this is the last of the lawn-mowers bashing series. Maybe.

Lawn-mowers are such an easy target to dis…and now that the weather is warming up and people are wheeling out their mowers across the country, well, you have to wonder why the vast majority of these people are completely unaware of just how damaging that age-old weekly American tradition is. Here is one theory: who is going to blow the whistle on the majority?  As Pogo use to say:  “we have seen the enemy and it is us”.  We have all been members of the lawn-mower majority at one time or another.

Here is a more popular theory: the motors seem so small and the gas tanks seem even smaller! How bad can it be? It’s the sheer volume that gets over-looked. Even broken down by the week, the numbers are staggering.

Each weekend, roughly 54 MILLION Americans mow their lawns! This results in the use of over 800 MILLION gallons of gas per year while producing tons and tons of air pollutants. Lawn care engines, which have had unregulated emissions until very recently, emit high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, producing 5% of the nation’s air pollution and even more in metropolitan areas. These figures can be found on the EPA’s website.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also states: a single traditional gas powered lawn mower produces as much air pollution as 43 new cars each being driven 12,000 miles.

Wow, that’s impressive. Let’s see… 54 million x 43… that works out to be the equivalent of an additional 2,322 million pollution producing automobiles on the road every week-end. Hey, get a push mower, will ya? Or better yet relax, reclaim your lost weekends and get a carefree, water-free and 100% recyclable artificial lawn installed.

If you happen to be in the San Francisco Bay Area, onelawn should be your first choice in synthetic grass. Not only does onelawn and The Good Nature Company have a beautiful artificial grass product, their sur-stay installation method is a superior engineered system. Check them out at www.onelawn.com

Artificial Grass = No Mower Gasoline Spills

Published on March 12, 2010 in Artificial Grass, Artificial Lawn, Green and bay area. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

American homeowners and their helpers are just plain clumsy. That’s right, I said it. Clumsy.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American homeowners spill 17 million gallons of gasoline annually in their bungling, fumbling attempts to add fuel to lawn and garden equipment.

17 MILLION GALLONS of gasoline spilled all across America! Why isn’t this phenomena  making national headlines?

Just to give this fact some perspective, imagine this: The Exxon Valdez oil spill is considered one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters of all time. That vessel spilled 10.8 million of gallons of crude oil, or 37% less than the gardeners of America spill each year.

These spills result in a huge volume of emissions of hazardous air pollutants like nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide, and volatile organic compounds, like carbon monoxide. They also contribute to soil and water contamination.

So how can the gardeners of America go green and still enjoy lawns that have the look and feel of a sod lawn? The answer is to install artificial grass.

For those homeowners who live in The San Francisco Bay Area,  onelawn™, a line of estate-quality synthetic grass developed and installed by The Good Nature Company,  is  the most realistic and affordable artificial lawn available. Contact onelawn™ for a free, no obligation in-home consultation today.

Artificial Grass: No Mow Grass Clippings!

Published on March 9, 2010 in Artificial Grass, Artificial Lawn, Green, Uncategorized and bay area. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

My last entry described the very real possibility of injuries resulting from the use of lawn mowers. A few people thought the odds were with them on that one. Fair enough. Next time you hear your fence getting whacked by a rock picked up by your lawn mower blade, you might want to think about those odds again…however, today I want to cover a sure thing and that is grass clippings.

Those little green clippings seem innocent enough, and you’d think they’d just break down nicely like the table scraps in your backyard composter, but grass clippings dumped in landfill actually contribute greatly to global warming.

The reason grass clippings contribute to global warming is that in a densely packed covered landfill they don’t have access to the elements -especially oxygen- that help them break down in an aerobic process (unlike a well-functioning compost pile). With the absence of air, sun and rain, grass clippings decompose anaerobically (without oxygen) and create methane, a potent greenhouse gas 21 times more effective at trapping radiant heat than carbon dioxide. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the number-one source of human-caused methane emissions to the atmosphere is buried waste. In fact, landfills contribute 10% of the gases that are warming the globe.

For this reason, many countries around the world and approximately half of all of the landfills in the U.S. have made it illegal to landfill grass clippings. Additionally, grass clippings rot in the landfills, introducing pesticides and fertilizers as well as creating leachate which ultimately contaminates our community drinking water supplies.

The average lawn produces clippings at a rate of about 7.25 pounds per square foot each year. The average lawn measures approximately 650 square feet, resulting in a total of 4700 pounds or 2.35 TONS of clippings a year per lawn! That’s just a single lawn, folks.  Last year Americans threw away a stunning 31 MILLION tons of grass clippings. Is there a “greener” grass out there?

If you want the look of a sod lawn but want an eco-friendly alternative, you should consider a product like Onelawn, an artificial grass that is 100% recyclable and will last 15 to 20 years. That’s 15 to 20 years of NO CLIPPINGS, which means no landfill, no methane gas and no water pollution. And did I mention no more mowing? Save your back and help save the planet.  Install a synthetic lawn today! If you are interested in the San Francisco Bay Area artificial lawn of choice, contact onelawn toll free at 1-877-661-5296.  www.onelawn.com

Artificial Grass Prevents Mowing Injuries

Published on March 6, 2010 in Artificial Grass. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Even though it’s still winter here in the Bay Area, it won’t be long before people start thinking of getting out the old lawn mower on a regular basis to cut the grass. Perhaps this might be a good time to reflect on whether you should have a synthetic lawn installed.

”Why?”, you ask? Well, apart from the most obvious benefits of artificial grass such as saving on water, helping to reduce air and water pollution and saving hours of labor, mowing ‘natural’ grass can lead to accidents and injuries.

According to a report carried out over a period of 5 years in the USA, well over 60,000 Americans were admitted to hospital emergency rooms because of lawn mower accidents. The most common injuries were cuts and bruises but there were cases of bone fractures, limb amputations and even a number of deaths. Admittedly, the ride-on type of lawn mower was a contributor to these type of accidents, however, power mowers and even push mowers were responsible for the lion share of injuries.

So what’s the solution? Well, you can start reading up on how to avoid lawn mower injuries OR you can decide to install an artificial lawn for a greener solution. Long term you are likely to reap far greater benefits than just avoiding lawn mower accidents – you’ll be helping the environment, saving on needless lawn watering and of course spending more time in your garden at leisure because you don’t have to spend countless hours mowing the grass and emptying the grass clippings!

In the San Francisco Bay Area, The Good Nature Company’s onelawn is a cut above the rest (pun intended). You can visit their website at www.onelawn.com or call them, toll free at:
1-877-661-5296. That’s 1-8-77-66-1LAWN.

Snowfall has not eliminated drought nor the need for artificial grass in the bay area.

Published on January 28, 2010 in Artificial Grass. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Chronicle Staff Writer Peter Fimrite writes that the recent dose of rainy weather seems to have buoyed the hopes of California’s water municipalities, but measurements taken in the Sierra Nevada show there is still not enough snow pack to eliminate drought conditions.

The ritual hike into the snowy wilds to survey the state’s frozen water supply found less snow than normal for this time of year in the Sierras.

Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources, after finishing the last measurement at Phillips Station next to Highway 50, remarked: “What we’re finding this year is really pretty close to last year”.

It is easy to look at what was your dead lawn, see green grass and think “wow, maybe the drought is over and the prices of water will go down…perhaps my interest in saving money with a synthetic lawn isn’t necessary. Unfortunately, even if the drought was to end today, the cost of water will continue to rise. In his very informative article titled: ‘As we use less, we could pay more’, Kelly Zito, SF Chronicle staff, writes: “The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the largest water district in the region, is leaning toward 10 percent annual rate increases over the next four years. Marin Municipal Water District plans a 7.3 percent bump”. This informative article can be found by going to: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/19/MNU41732JU.DTL

The average lawn requires 55,000 gallons of water a year. Unfortunately, most people over-water their lawn, causing that amount to jump up to 75,000 gallons a year or more. Getting an artificial lawn for the future just makes sense, both cost-wise and for the environment.

Artificial Grass has Come a Long Way Since Astroturf

Published on January 25, 2010 in Artificial Grass and general. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Synthetic grass has come a long way since the first installation of Astroturf at the dome in Houston in 1965.  The first generation of artificial grass gained a reputation for its unrealistic look and feel.  With the advances in materials and construction over the past 40 years, the improvements have led to a product that is virtually indistinguishable from traditional sod in appearance and texture.  The Good Nature Company’s onelawn™ is the next generation of artificial grass.