The Lawn Association has often promoted the importance of keeping real lawns in our gardens as a way of encouraging natural biodiversity throughout the whole of the UK .
Why would anyone replace a key sustainable component of our living environment with artificial grass, a coal and oil-derived product, one of only limited life span and almost impossible to recycle?
The entire planet is waging war on unnecessary plastics, there is a climate emergency and now it has been found by scientists that nearly half of Britain's natural biodiversity has disappeared.
The benefits of real grass are plain to see:
- Real grass captures CO2. Plastic grass generates colossal CO2 in its manufacture.
- Real grass cools the surrounding areas. Plastic grass heats up in hot weather to intolerable temperatures, especially for small children and pets
- Real grass can survive even a summer drought without watering. Plastic grass requires regular hosing down.
- Real grass lawns last for many decades ! Plastic grass wears out after a few years.
- Real grass sustains biodiversity. Plastic grass creates no-go zones for wildlife.
David Hedges Gower, the founder of the Lawn Association states: "Remove your lawn, and you instantly reduce your garden’s biodiversity. It’s as simple - and as devastating - as that.
“So, if you replace your lawn with plastic grass or hard core, you remove the habitat, food and safety of numerous creatures above and below ground. And when they go, so too do the other animals that rely on them.
“Lawns also help to maintain healthy soil, another vital part of our ecosystems (and, incidentally, make our garden air healthier for us too). So, with modern lawn care so easy, quick and free of plastics and toxic chemicals, maintaining your lawn is one of the best things you can do to make sure your garden supports our imperilled biodiversity"
