The Rye City Council will hold a second public hearing on the proposal to convert the lawn to artificial turf [UPDATE: originally scheduled for March 11, the hearing was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.] Below is a response to the proposal from Green Jay Landscape Design President and Landscape Ecologist Jay Archer.
We live in a beautiful world!
A wonderful place!
If only we could see it.
We would take better care of it.
Consider the need for climate positive landscape environments in a biologically degraded & threatened world.
Today we live in fear of biology. Maybe that’s right. Maybe we should have a little faith…in nature…& trust in God !
Our bodies, our human health, is completely dependent on clean air & water, bacteria, fungi & the microbiomes supplied by plants, not plastic.
Life comes from the life within the soil beneath our feet to the leaves in the trees above our heads.
Each precious inch of green space is essential to human health. It supplies oxygen, sequesters carbon & cleans the air and water…miraculously…naturally !
While artificial turf is technically not impervious space, it is at best sterile and devoid of life.
It provides no true ecological benefit and value to a threatened and degraded environment.
In implementing it, we eliminate natural processes like photosynthesis & a proper exchange of gases at our peril.
The result of artificial turf may not be anoxic or anaerobic conditions but at best, it is sterile.
What lies below the turf ? I say, “watch out !”. Life will find a way. What life?
How long can superbugs live on plastic without naturally occurring beneficial bacteria to break down pathogens?
The water is not cleaned and filtered biologically. It is mechanically scrubbed and sent away. Where does it go?
The only information available regarding maintenance (from manufacturers/vendors, sorry if I am suspicious), says: regular brushing (with special equipment), flushing and washing (to where?) and cleaning with anti-bacterial soap. It’s basically an outdoor rug.
What about vacuuming and frequency?
How is this an improvement over mowing?
Everything breaks down over time in the environment & off gases into the atmosphere and our bodies.
Is this an example we want to set for our children?
A world where we not only remove the trees & pave over nature but remove every naturally functioning green space. Am I to live to see it?
What we should cultivate is organic turf that lives and breathes, gives life, cleans the air and water & functions biologically to deliver ecological services & value. It’s safe.
Everything requires maintenance, not just $, but real care.
What is it going to take to see what we’ve become? What’s wrong with us?
Shame on you mayor for your lack of vision and leadership on this most important issue.
Why can we not speak for nature, our nature, our bodies our children’s children?
There is a better, greener, naturally healthy
way to live!
Thank you,
Jay Archer
