Brooks BottenhornProposal Essay topic by Brooks Bottenhorn

The Sod Problem

andrewbottenhorn — 2024-03-27 21:46:08 UTC

In Colorado's front range, we use a lot of water to keep our lawns green in our dry climate. However, this can be harmful to an ecosystem by decreasing biodiversity and creating excessive chemical / biological runoff.

Better Ground Exists

andrewbottenhorn — 2024-03-27 21:59:51 UTC

The ideal ground covering is different depending on where you live. Choosing a plant adapted to your climate can help it grow well, and choosing a native plant is important to the health of the surrounding ecosystem. In Colorado, plants such as pussytoes, wooly yarrow, the ice plant, and many more grow well without being cut or watered.

The Switch

andrewbottenhorn — 2024-03-27 22:11:51 UTC

In Colorado, HOAs cannot prevent you from removing all sod from your lawn. With that being said, the grass lawn is an American staple. Developers typically build most single-family houses with already laid grass lawns, and most people wouldn't even consider changing them. Creating a large enough cultural shift would take a serious "grass-roots" movement. Switching a yard from sod to a more sustainable ground cover does have to be expensive. All it takes is a few shoves and some seeds.

andrewbottenhorn — 2024-03-27 22:15:04 UTC

Plan of Action

andrewbottenhorn — 2024-03-27 22:30:32 UTC

Making this change will necessarily require a group to manually change the contents of people's yards and people's interest in making the switch. The most effective way to meet these two needs would be a Non-profit. This organization could advertise and hire workers, without charging excessively to make a profit. We could be donation-based or charge a fee for the labor. Alternatively, finding volunteers to do this could be far more affordable.

The work

andrewbottenhorn — 2024-03-27 22:38:48 UTC

Producing posters, internet ads, and other forms of local advertisement would help bring peoples attention towards the issue. If contacted, we would drive to the persons lawn, rip it out, and plant a native ground cover that is right for the location.