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jeudi, mai 22, 2008

Fake grass better for the environment? - by grassestimate.com Bay Area synthetic grass leader

Fake grass better for the environment?

Brendan I. Koerner - brought to you by grassestimate.com Bay Area fake
artificial grass and synthetic golf putting green leader

I fear that my well-tended lawn is wreaking havoc on the environment.
I've considered replacing it with synthetic grass, which requires far
less maintenance. But manufacturing that plastic vegetation must give
off a lot of carbon emissions, right? So which type of lawn is
(figuratively) greener—real or fake?

It's tough to declare a winner here without knowing the specifics of
your lawn-care regimen, as well as your geographic location. If you're
reckless with the fertilizer, oblivious to the consequences of
heedless mowing, and live in a drought-stricken region, then ersatz
grass has the clear environmental edge. But if you're diligent about
your gardening routine, the real stuff may be better.

The environmental drawbacks of genuine lawns are easy enough to tally.
They're thirsty, of course—the average American lawn gulps down 21,600
gallons of water per year. Lawns planted atop sandy soil can be
particularly wasteful since they drain more quickly. And the water
usage problem is particularly acute when a homeowner insists on laying
sod that's ill-suited to the local climate.

Gas-powered mowers, meanwhile, are hazardous to more than just
eardrums. A 2001 study by Sweden's Stockholm University found that an
hour's worth of mowing resulted in the same amount of smog-forming
emissions as driving a car 93 miles. Mower manufacturers contend that
their newer models have become cleaner, yet they still resist calls to
add catalytic converters to their products; according to the Swedes,
doing so would reduce mower emissions by 80 percent.

Another knock against real grass is that it's frequently drizzled with
fertilizer, most of which is synthetic. American homeowners use about
3 million metric tons of synthetic lawn fertilizer per year. The
fossil fuel equivalent of a barrel of oil goes into manufacturing 560
pounds of such fertilizer, so our collective lawn habit is costing us
more than 11.8 million barrels of oil annually. We also use 70 million
pounds of pesticides and herbicides on our lawns every year. Clippings
that are improperly disposed of can end up polluting major waterways.

On the plus side, lawns do act as carbon sinks. According to a 2005
NASA study, the United States is covered with roughly 40 million acres
of tended lawns. Assuming all clippings are bagged and tossed in the
trash, those lawns can soak up about 13.2 million pounds of carbon
dioxide per year. But the study's authors stressed that the lawns'
carbon absorption is likely negated by the amount of energy that goes
into making synthetic fertilizer and powering mowers.

While it's not entirely maintenance-free, synthetic grass requires
neither water nor fertilizer nor mowing. Its greatest environmental
sin occurs during manufacturing, since the production of polyethylene
and other essential fake-grass materials (such as polymers and
elastomeric coatings) is energy intensive. One must also consider the
inevitable disposal issues—like most plastics, aside from those found
in beverage and detergent bottles, artificial turf is typically
landfilled rather than recycled.

So how bad is fake grass? The best life-cycle study the Lantern could
find is this one (PDF), in which Canada's Athena Institute tried to
calculate the carbon toll of converting a school's playing field from
real grass to artificial. The new field could be made carbon neutral,
the study's authors concluded, by planting and maintaining 1,861 trees
for a decade. But keep in mind that this was an athletic pitch
measuring 96,840 square feet, not a piddling single-family lawn. And
Athena's calculations had to take into account the installation of PVC
pipes for drainage, something that may not affect the average
homeowner.

There are also many environmental activists who revile fake grass that
uses rubber infill—that is, crumbs of recycled tires sprinkled between
the blades, in order to provide cushioning. They claim that these
rubber bits can cause health problems if inhaled; the artificial-turf
industry counters that such fears are scientifically unwarranted. The
Lantern will note only that the infill issue seems to affect athletic
fields more than ornamental lawns and that there are artificial
options that don't include rubber crumbs.

The bottom line is that, whichever lawn type you choose, you should
commit to managing it responsibly. If you want to minimize your water
and fertilizer use by going the fake route, make sure you purchase a
quality product that won't have to be replaced for a decade or more.

But if you don't feel comfortable with plastic, think about
drastically altering your lawn-care practices. For starters, compost
your clippings instead of bagging them; per the NASA study, this can
nearly triple your lawn's effectiveness as a carbon sink. Ditch your
aging gas-powered mower in favor of a reel push mower. And make the
switch to organic fertilizers that contain ingredients like cornmeal
or seaweed.

mercredi, mai 21, 2008

President Obama delegate privation -- "inferiority is accepted as truth"

Are you prepared to vote in President Obama as an independent in Nov.?
With nails scratching on the chalk board behind her Hillary will take
the democratic nomination. It is too late to stop it.

The party delegates can vote any way they want. Add, Hillary will sue
to count Michigan and Florida. Do you believe your vote somehow
constrains the pledged and unpledged delegates if the party rules
don't provide for it? Prepare yourself psychologically. The Clinton
move at the convention is check not check mate.

To take your country back you will have to put President Obama on
every ballot as an independent. This election will have the smell of
the 2003 California Davis-Schwarzenegger recall donnybrook. President
Obama, Nader, Hillary, McCain et al. Can you hear Cheney's chuckle in
the background? The liberals are a bunch of schmucks smirk on his
face says it all.

Perry Gregg

perry.gregg@post.harvard.edu

P.S. Who said, "[d]iscrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes
in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of
their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating
them"?

vendredi, mai 16, 2008

Fwd: The Presidency & Harvard Law School

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Evans <...evans@fas.harvard.edu>
Date: Fri, May 16, 2008 at 5:44 AM
Subject: The Presidency & Harvard Law School
To: perry.gregg@post.harvard.edu


Perry,

While it is far too early to predict who will be the next President of
the United States, it's never too early to philosophize about
historical perspective. It is, therefore, interesting to reflect on
the alumni of Harvard Law School who have risen to that exalted
political plain. Frankly, the plural noun "alumni" is inappropriate.
The singular noun "alumnus" applies here because only one graduate of
Harvard Law School has been President of the United States and he was
the nineteenth, Rutherford B. Hayes (R., Ohio; HLS 1845). As any
student of U. S. History knows, Hayes presided over the removal of
federal troops sent to the South to ensure the rights of newly-freed
African Americans. This essentially ended the Reconstruction period
and gave rise to a century of de jure Jim Crow racism.

It would be poetic, ironic and maybe even morally corrective if the
second alumnus of Harvard Law School to attain that high office would
be an African American in the person of Barack H. Obama (D., Illinois;
HLS 1991).

Just a thought. :-)

Best regards,

David

mardi, mai 06, 2008

Princeton at 25th Anniversary Temecula Balloon & Wine Festival

25th Anniversary Temecula Balloon & Wine Festival

Lake Skinner , 37701 Warren Road, Winchester, CA
Event Date: Sunday, June 8th, 2008 at 6:00 am

Join us for the 25th Annniversary of the Temecula Ballon & Wine
Festival. The Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival offers top-name
entertainment, wine tasting in the Wine Gardens, Kids Faire, Arts &
Crafts and Commercial exhibits and the Food Court. Wine tasting
features different premium wines from numerous Temecula Valley
wineries as well as others from Southern California. Enjoy a memorable
experience and book a hot air balloon flight. Your journey will begin
at sunrise as the balloon lifts gently into the sapphire skies above
Lake Skinner.

The 25th Annual Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival will be held
on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 6th, 7th and 8th, 2008 at Lake
Skinner. Lake Skinner is a Riverside County Park and is located at
37701 Warren Rd., Winchester, CA 92596. The admission fee to the
Festival includes the entertainment but not food or beverages.

Questions & RSVP info, send e-mail to Norma at princetonclub@prodigy.net .

http://www.temeculainformation.com/balloon&wine/Balloon_Wine_Festival.htm

samedi, mai 03, 2008

SF Green Drinks - This Wednesday May 7th - SPONSORED by CUESA and Mother Jones

Hello everyone,
Please join us this Wednesday, May 7th, for the next San Francisco Green Drinks

**REMINDER - Please bring your business cards

Sponsors - CUESA and Mother Jones

CUESA
The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA)
is a local non-profit best known for managing the Ferry Plaza Farmers
Market. CUESA was organized in 1994 to educate urban consumers about
sustainable food systems and to create links between urban dwellers
and the farmers who practice sustainable agriculture in the Bay Area.
CUESA recently launched a Waste Wise Farmers' Market initiative that
includes a waste reduction program, education campaign, and new
custom-made Waste Wise stations. All attendees of this evening's Green
Drinks will enjoy special farmers' market goodies and leave with a
Waste Wise reusable tote bag in celebration of the new initiative.
Find out more at www.cuesa.org.

Mother Jones
Mother Jones is a national independent nonprofit magazine whose roots
lie in a commitment to social justice implemented through first rate
investigative reporting. We are especially proud of our long tradition
of environmental reporting and are excited to share with you our most
recent issue showcasing the challenges and opportunities of today's
energy crisis. Please visit MotherJones.com for more information or
talk to us at green drinks!

When/where:
Date: Wednesday, May 7th
Time: 5:30-8 p.m.
Location: Varnish Fine Art, located at 77 Natoma Street near 2nd
Street. Natoma Street is in between Howard and Mission Streets.

Please send names and email addresses to robin.park@tpl.org for any
additions or subtractions to the distribution list.

Safety:
Please be safe when coming to or from Green Drinks. If you would like
someone to walk you to your bus/train stop or car, please let me know.
As always, please designate a driver if driving.

We hope to see you there!

- Robin

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