If you asked hundreds of Americans to list the things that they value and that they consider very important, I doubt that any of them will respond with “Green grass in my yards.” And I am sure that the same would hold here in my [current] hometown of Boise, Idaho. We pride ourselves on having a green front yard for everyone to see as they go by, and a green backyard that we can enjoy within the confines of our own fenced-in yard.
Have you ever thought about how ludicrous it is to have a green lawn? Yes, it looks nice (which translates loosely to we are good people because we take care of our yard), and it is more enjoyable to play on green grass than on dirt or concrete (or brown scraggly grass). But the grass provides no real value other than aesthetics.
And unless you are a sheep or a goat or some other foraging animal, I’m willing to bet that you don’t eat the grass. So it doesn’t provide any nutrition for your daily sustenance. Aside from that drawback, what else seems a bit crazy about having your green grass lawn?
Let’s say you move into a new house whose yards are nothing but dirt. Whether it’s already costed into the price of the house, or you have to pay for it as an extra item, there is the initial expense of having the grass installed -- whether its seed, spraying, or laying sod. Everything costs something -- nothing is free.
Then there is the watering of the grass. Most people pay for water, unless you have a pump that pulls water out of the ground, out of a ditch or canal -- but even then you are paying for the electricity to run the pump to pull the free water. Not only do you have to pay for the water (or the electricity to get it), you also have to pay for the sprinklers, the hoses, etc. And if you have in-ground sprinklers, you have routine maintenance to pay for. If you live in Boise or other cold weather climates, you have to pay to have them blown out in the Fall, and then turned back on in the Spring.
Does it sound so far like your green grass is a money pit? Just wait, there’s more!
You’ve planted the grass, and you’re watering it to make sure it grows. Well, guess what?
Because you’ve done such a good job of planting grass and then watering it, it has grown! Now you need to mow it. You can hire someone to mow it, and that is going to cost you money. Or you can buy a mower and do it yourself. That requires an outlay of cash for the mower, and then there is the gasoline for it (or the electricity for an electric mower). And that doesn’t even factor in any value for your time.
All lawns get some weeds or spots that don’t grow as well. So now you’re going to buy some fertilizer and or other products to manage the weeds. Oops -- there’s more money.
So far, all we’ve looked at is the cost of having your green grass lawn in Boise or anywhere else. We haven’t even discussed environmental factors such as drawing down on the water table; polluting the air with the gasoline lawn mower; having fertilizer or weed killer products going into the gutter and into the water drainage system (or worse, rivers or oceans), emptying the cut grass into the landfills.
Residents of desert areas in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, just to name three states, have figured it out. They realized they don’t need huge green grass yards to have a pleasant yard. So, why don’t more people do this, whether in Boise, in Billings, or in Boston? We’re spoiled; we like our green grass yards, and until there is no water for yards, we’ll keep them watered, growing, cut, and fertilized.