Artificial turf is an increasingly popular choice for suburban backyards, offering an evergreen surface that requires little maintenance. But that convenience comes with a big environmental price tag.
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The alternatives, for those interested.
For those who don’t want to maintain a natural lawn, Professor Howden suggests planting ground covers and shrubs, or growing a cottage garden.
And if native grass and shrubs won’t work for your backyard, you could always lay down some bark or wood chip.
“You can just have bark chips like mulch over your earth, and that doesn’t heat up as much as artificial turf and does keep the ground healthy,” Assistant Professor Ting said.
