A healthy lawn is an environment-friendly lawn. A healthy and sustainable natural grass lawn is not only beneficial for you but your planet as well. Environmental impacts of a lawn are also overwhelmingly positive.
Lawns in your home let you enjoy the natural beauty along with many environmental benefits. Let’s explore some of the most important reasons to have a healthy lawn in your home.
1. Lawns Clean the Air and Trap CO2
The plants and grass in your lawn take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Oxygen is necessary for life on this earth but trapping CO2 is also essential. High ratio of CO2 in the air can lead to elevated air temperatures and other environmental dangers.
That’s why reducing CO2 emission is crucial and this can be done by sustaining greenery.
Natural grass not only traps carbon dioxide but also traps dust to and cleanses the air. Lawns absorb about 5 percent of the carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere annually, which in turn reduce the potential for global warming.
Moreover, 25 square foot of healthy grass produces enough oxygen for an adult each day.
2. Improve Air Quality and Soil Structure
A healthy lawn serves as an air filter that traps and absorbs smoke, dust, allergens and other pollutants that would otherwise be breathed in by humans. Therefore, lawn contributes to a cleaner and greener environment around your home.
In the United States, turf grasses purify the air from an estimated 12 million tons of impurities annually, absorbing the pollutants and restoring dust and dirt to the soil.
Properly maintained and nourished grass encourage beneficial micro-organisms in the soil. It also produces organic matter that improves soil health and fertility. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants, which enhance the environmental and health benefits of your lawn.
3. Temperature Modification and Cooling Effects
The grasses and plants cool themselves through the process of transpiration. This process allows them to lower their temperatures through evaporation. On sunny days, the air temperature over grass lawns can be 14o F lower than the temperature above bare soil, concrete or similar surfaces.
The transpiration creates cooling effects which is why grasses feel so good in summer. An average size front lawn can produce the cooling effect of almost nine tonnes of air conditioning.
Hence, lawns can reduce the air conditioning cost of your home and a couple of shade trees in your lawn will also keep it cooler.
4. Increases Value of Your Home
Lawns are a good investment. A healthy, well maintained and beautiful lawn can considerably increase the value of your home, as much as fifteen percent. Landscaping usually provides 100 to 200 percent return on investment.
When it’s time to sell, well maintained and attractive landscapes can increase your home’s value by more than 10 percent in buyers’ minds.
Aside from monetary facts, lawns increase the curb appeal of your home to attract the right buyer.
5. Reduce Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is a genuine and growing concern in urban areas where concrete and metal surfaces reflect noise. The grass also has the ability to absorb noise. This is just another reason why a healthy lawn is important for your physical wellbeing.
In fact, studies conducted in the USA showed that the grassy areas naturally reduced the noise pollution up to 10 decibels.
6. Provide Fitness, Fun and Health
A well-kept lawn serves as your personal athletic field and provides a cushioned playing surface for kids. Green spaces are not only aesthetically appealing but also help to reduce stress, improve moods, increase productivity, and also help in speedy recovery from illness.
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