The Environmental Evils Of The Riding Lawn Mower

I was going to write this as a metaphor but it got a little convoluted. It started something like this:

Imagine spending lots of money to poison land, water, and air to grow something essentially useless to human and animal that required constant attention to maintain its sterile, commonplace appearance....

Then I wanted to go on about the waste of oil and gas, contribution to global warming, depriving of the health benefits of a push mower. That's where the convolution starts.

I think I'm realistic and not unreasonable about landscaping. I understand the joy and utility of a small lawn to play ball on with the kids, but what I don't understand is the huge, golfcourse like yards that many maintain with the aid of these machines. They seem to me to be another symptom of the increasing homogeneity and lack of originality in our country. Everyone shops at WalMart. Everyone has the huge, uniform lawn, entirely lacking in personality. The cost of this to the environment is manifold, including pollution from pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers which all make there way to the nearest waterways, as well as pollution to air from the machines we use to maintain them. Another big cost is to the ecology of a landscape. Uniform manicured lawns are relatively sterile ecologically, and especially when compared with the forests and natural areas from which we are carving so many of our new subdivisions. Here is an opportunity to act locally and individually for the betterment of our environment. Demand more from our homebuilders. Ask them to respect the already beatifully landscaped land from which they are making their living. Tear up some of that boring oversized lawn and plant native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Get rid of the riding lawn mower. If your lawn is big enough to need one, it's too big.