| 1 | # Kill Your Lawn |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Yup, that's right. Your manicured suburban signal of prosperity is killing ecosystems and wasting precious resources and time. If you have the time, I would highly recommend watching the entertaining video below. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | <div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden;"> |
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| 7 | src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jqTEvS0d_Co" |
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| 10 | allowfullscreen |
| 11 | ></iframe> |
| 12 | </div> |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Don't have time to watch the video right now? Here's some highlights: |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ## Environmental & Ecological Harm |
| 17 | |
| 18 | - Lawns destroy habitat for native wildlife that evolved alongside native plants, not imported grass like Kentucky Bluegrass (which is from Europe) |
| 19 | - They're a monoculture that reduces biodiversity and makes ecosystems more vulnerable to invasive species |
| 20 | - Invasive species already account for about 40% of endangered species loss in the US |
| 21 | |
| 22 | ## Resource Waste |
| 23 | |
| 24 | - Lawns consume 3.3 trillion gallons of water annually |
| 25 | - They use 1.2 billion gallons of gasoline for maintenance |
| 26 | - Lawn equipment produces 5% of US air pollution |
| 27 | - They use 10x more pesticides per acre than farmland |
| 28 | - Fertilizer runoff pollutes water supplies |
| 29 | |
| 30 | ## Opportunity Cost |
| 31 | |
| 32 | - Grass covers 2% of the continental US — more land than Iowa, Louisiana, Georgia, or Michigan combined |
| 33 | - That land could theoretically triple US fruit and vegetable production |
| 34 | - It's wasted carbon storage, wildlife habitat, and healthy soil potential |
| 35 | |
| 36 | ## Breaking Natural Relationships |
| 37 | |
| 38 | - Native species depend on each other in deeply interconnected ways (monarch butterflies need milkweed, hummingbirds need specific flowers) |
| 39 | - Lawns sever these relationships; Western monarch populations crashed from ~10 million to under 2,000 largely due to milkweed loss |
| 40 | |
| 41 | ## Why Native Plants Are Better |
| 42 | |
| 43 | - Deep root systems improve soil health, water drainage, and carbon storage |
| 44 | - They support entire food webs of insects, birds, and mammals |
| 45 | - Once established, they largely take care of themselves |
| 46 | |
| 47 | ## Now What? |
| 48 | |
| 49 | On board? Not sure where to start? Here's some resources |
| 50 | |
| 51 | - [iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org): free app to identify plants near you by photo |
| 52 | - [NWF Native Plant Finder](https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder): find native plants for your region by location |
| 53 | - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center](https://www.wildflower.org): search native plants by state, soil, sun, and wildlife value |
| 54 | - [Homegrown National Park](https://homegrownnationalpark.org): guides, nursery directory, and community challenge to reduce lawn |
| 55 | - [Rewilding Magazine](https://www.rewildingmag.com/replace-lawn-with-native-plants): practical breakdown of lawn removal methods |
| 56 | - [NWF "Grow Beyond No Mow May"](https://blog.nwf.org/2024/04/grow-beyond-no-mow-may-options-for-reducing-your-lawn): beginner-friendly guide to getting started |
| 57 | - Local rebates: [kagi](https://kagi.com) "[your city/county] + native plant rebate" to find cash back programs for turf replacement |
| 58 | |
| 59 | |
| 60 | > Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. |