Another day, another thing the Cult of Climastrology has to attempt to ruin
How perfect lawns can make climate change worse
On warm spring weekends, many people start tending to their yards. But while landscaping and grooming the lawn, they may be contributing to climate change.
Sara Via, a professor at the University of Maryland-College Park, says gas-powered tools are a significant source of carbon pollution.
Via: “Mowers, weed whackers, roto tillers, leaf blowers …â€
Synthetic fertilizer also contributes. Via says it’s energy-intensive to produce, and when over-applied, it can stimulate microbes in the soil to produce more nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.
But she says people can make landscaping more climate-friendly – for example, by weeding and pruning using hand tools, or mowing with an electric mower. She says organic fertilizer is less harmful than synthetic, but it’s still important to use no more than needed.
She states that people shouldn’t worry if they have bad spots in their lawn, we should all just accept some imperfections. Should I jump into the notion that this is very much about city dwellers vs those in the suburbs and countryside? Na.
These people just need to mind their own damned business.
Our esteemed host wrote:
I think that you’re wrong there: apartment-dwelling urbanites have little grass to low, while suburban McMansions tend to have huge lawns.
Of course, I have multiple acres on the farm, and while the land being cultivated doesn’t require mowing, I have about two acres which do. Cut most of it yesterday. With a gasoline-powered riding mower.
My friend down the street changed his lawn to xeriscape and I followed it with interest. It ended up looking like a weed n’ gravel lot, pretty much an eyesore. When he sold it the new owner immediately put in grass and a pond.