Artificial Turf: The Bad, the Awful and the Ugly

The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental nonprofit Resilient Palisades to deliver a weekly “green tip” to our readers. This week’s tip was written by Sheda Morshed and UrbanFarmsLA.

Artificial plastic turf is becoming increasingly popular as a lawn substitute or landscape backdrop. We’re going in the wrong direction with this growing trend. Yes, non-native lawns are very problematic and should be removed if they serve little to no purpose other than aesthetics. But artificial turf is definitely not the answer.

A local urban farming firm, UrbanFarmsLA, has created a fun PDF on artificial turf and they’ve granted Resilient Palisades permission to reprint “No More Turf!” for this week’s Green Tip. Here is an edited version, explaining why plastic lawns are a bad, awful and ugly option:

Human Health and Safety

Artificial turf is often made of what is essentially small granules of plastic recycled from old tires. (Yuck!) Even the “highest quality” plastic turf is made from polyethylene and polyurethane, both toxins, causing hormone disruption and chronic illnesses such as asthma.

They also contain PFAs, substances known as “forever chemicals,” because they remain in the human body and can lead to cancer and birth defects.

Water Saving 

Plastic turf creates an impermeable surface that sends valuable rain and other surface water to the ocean. In contrast, living soil or other permeable surfaces can absorb, clean and route water into the underground aquifer we all rely on.

Climate Crisis

When we cover the ground in plastic rugs, we are effectively suffocating soil and the billions of microorganisms living within organisms that play an essential part in our ecosystem. Using any plant instead of plastics creates a natural filter for toxins and greenhouse gases, and provides other natural services we all rely on.

Plastic turf also accelerates the climate crisis by heating our homes and cities. The plastic absorbs heat and can reach up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface, which poses an obvious danger to pets and children. And while a shade tree can lower the temperature of your home by up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, plastic turf heats it.

Animals and the Environment

Plastic turf eliminates habitat for beneficial bugs and insects—important food sources for birds, lizards and other native wildlife.

Also, when this impermeable surface sends runoff water into our ocean, it carries tiny plastic particles (microplastics) that end up in our food system and other living organisms.

Why Not Stick with My Lawn?

In SoCal, a traditional lawn uses too much water, relies on heavy loads of fossil fuels for growth and maintenance, provides little to no habitat or food to birds, pollinators, and other beneficial wildlife, has shallow roots that capture very little rainwater, removes minimal or no greenhouse gases, does little to reduce ambient temperatures … and the list goes on.

If you’re considering removing any amount of lawn, consider native and pollinator-friendly plants instead. A low-maintenance option is the native grass Carex praegracilis, requiring only a handful of deep watering days per summer month and very little maintenance throughout the year.