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🤔 A topic I never thought I would be fascinated by and passionate about? Lawns. Yep, grass lawns. Sounds odd, but hear me out. So much of a safe, healthy ecosystem relies on biodiversity, native plants, water efficiency, and a myriad of other facets that can start (literally) in our backyards. The National Wildlife Federation put out a recent three-part series that's a must-read. Check out: 1️⃣ Why We Have Lawns covers the history of the classist, aristocratic obsession with lush grass lawns, and includes the terrifying story of how the “Chemical Warfare Service, an agency initially established to develop and deploy chemical weapons for military use” in WWI decided to call itself “the ‘Chemical Peace Service,’” to keep itself relevant after the war, and “began testing war gasses for use as pesticides” in US homes 😵 https://lnkd.in/gYZx8krp 2️⃣ Why We Shouldn’t Have Lawns explains the toll on both human and wildlife health as well as additional environmental impacts. A “massive amount of pesticide use is known to cause long term impacts on human health as it enters waterways, is absorbed by plants, and even drifts into the air. Several kinds of cancer have even been linked with exposure to lawn chemicals.” 😷 https://lnkd.in/gmXJE_iH 3️⃣ Grow Beyond No Mow May explains great ways to take action, covering both how to replace turf grasses (which “have root systems that are only a few inches deep, which makes them inefficient at managing or filtering water”) with native plants and how to intentionally manage any grass lawn you do keep (like approaching “mowing sparingly and intentionally, but don’t let it go ‘unmanaged’” and avoiding “pesticides and fertilizers.”) 🌸🌻🌼🌷https://lnkd.in/gkfehKNp Thoughts?
The modern American lawn is an adaptation of the vast, lush lawns and gardens of the 19th-century British upper class. It’s time to rethink why we maintain this status quo. 🌱 Learn more about lawn history 📲: https://ow.ly/laNq50Rmx59 #GardenForWildlife #lawns #grass #NoMowMay
12-Year Private & Corporate Wellness Consultant | Layman's Communicator | Realistic Educator | Increasing trust, retention, and compliance by filling the health & media literacy gaps in programs, products, & marketing.
10moThis right here! I've seen lawns of golf courses digitally repurposed as ecologically enriched communities on my social feeds lately... #startingpoint? 👀