There have been a few stories in the press lately touting the demise of artificial turf for sporting stadiums which has made me wonder just how simple it must be to skew the facts to suit your story. The argument was that because some major league baseball teams are going back to natural grass stadiums the end is nigh for synthetic grass.
The truth is that nothing could be further than the truth and in the large scale of things American baseball is an insignificant speck on the world sporting stage. Sure it means something to Americans but the rest of the world? Not so much. In fact, artificial turf is growing in popularity for numerous sports around the world. Hockey, cricket, soccer, lacrosse, tennis and other sports are all taking up the benefits that are gained though replacing natural grass with the synthetic equivalent.
The gains in playing time have been phenomenal, the injury rate (claimed to be greater due to synthetic grass) is still high due to the uneven playing surface that non-elite sportsmen and women have to play on.
The technology involved with synthetic grass continues to progress something that you know is not going to happen with real grass. Let’s face it, grass is grass and it’s not going to get any better than it already is. In fact, some of the great breakthroughs involving “natural” grass in football stadia has involved the use of plastic mesh down a the grass roots level binding the sod together.
More and more clubs and local groups are taking up the opportunity of installing synthetic turf in the playing fields and playgrounds of the area because they know it is more reliable than grass and the weather. When you lose over half the season because your home ground is a wasteland dump of mud and water too many years in a row something is bound to snap.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
An Artificial Grass Warning
If you are in the US and are thinking about buying and installing artificial grass in your backyard there is a warning you should take note of first. This warning has nothing to do with possible health risks or possible negative reactions to synthetic grass, it’s more a warning about the quality of the grass available to you.
Don’t simply buy a certain type of synthetic grass lawn simply because it is cheaper than other types of grass. There’s usually a reason why it’s cheaper and it’s usually because it is an artificial grass product that has been made in China and imported to the US. In general the Chinese artificial grasses are inferior to the products manufactured in the US.
It is usually very obvious what is the American made product and what is the product made in China. The blades of grass of the overseas product are often shiny green blades with black backing which means that they look nothing like the real grass they’re supposed to be imitating. The widths in which the grass is available are also different. American synthetic grass comes in rolls that are 15 feet wide while the Chinese versions are 13 feet.
A problem in buying the cheaper Chinese synthetic grass is that it will be very difficult to take any warranty issues back to the manufacturer in China. The person who sells you the product locally is not going to be the company that you will have to deal with if there are any problems.
Another area that you should take care in is in finding a qualified installation expert. It is important that synthetic grass is laid and secured properly from the start. Because the artificial grass industry is an expanding one there are a lot of new players coming in to get their cut and along with the legitimate ones are the dodgy, untrained contractors. Some of them have had little or no training and have set up shop looking to take advantage of the rise in new installations.
Do a little bit of homework before you, firstly, choose the synthetic grass to buy and, secondly, ask someone to install it for you. Go to a reputable company, ask to see their contractors license and be comfortable in the knowledge that you are getting a quality product installed by a qualified professional.
Don’t simply buy a certain type of synthetic grass lawn simply because it is cheaper than other types of grass. There’s usually a reason why it’s cheaper and it’s usually because it is an artificial grass product that has been made in China and imported to the US. In general the Chinese artificial grasses are inferior to the products manufactured in the US.
It is usually very obvious what is the American made product and what is the product made in China. The blades of grass of the overseas product are often shiny green blades with black backing which means that they look nothing like the real grass they’re supposed to be imitating. The widths in which the grass is available are also different. American synthetic grass comes in rolls that are 15 feet wide while the Chinese versions are 13 feet.
A problem in buying the cheaper Chinese synthetic grass is that it will be very difficult to take any warranty issues back to the manufacturer in China. The person who sells you the product locally is not going to be the company that you will have to deal with if there are any problems.
Another area that you should take care in is in finding a qualified installation expert. It is important that synthetic grass is laid and secured properly from the start. Because the artificial grass industry is an expanding one there are a lot of new players coming in to get their cut and along with the legitimate ones are the dodgy, untrained contractors. Some of them have had little or no training and have set up shop looking to take advantage of the rise in new installations.
Do a little bit of homework before you, firstly, choose the synthetic grass to buy and, secondly, ask someone to install it for you. Go to a reputable company, ask to see their contractors license and be comfortable in the knowledge that you are getting a quality product installed by a qualified professional.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Synthetic Grass Demand Is Growing
We were given a small indication recently about just how quickly and strongly the synthetic grass industry is growing when the results of Easy-Turf Inc were announced. For the second year in a row the company was named as one of the fastest growing companies in America. It was the only synthetic grass company to make it into the top 5,000 companies and was the 17th fastest growing company in the environmental services industry.
This is a company that has been at the top of the synthetic turf industry for nine years now and has had its synthetic grass installed in over 5,000 residential and commercial locations throughout Southern California.
By making some conservative estimations about the benefits the product has had on the environment the installation of all of the EasyTurf synthetic grass means that Southern California residents are now saving around 56,000 gallons of water each year. This makes the synthetic grass one of the best water conservation devices available on the market.
The fact that the company has continued to grow even through the downturn in the economy is a pretty good indicator that the synthetic grass industry is still expanding. One of the things to remember about EasyTurf is that it is primarily a landscaping synthetic grass product rather than a sports turf product. The majority of installations that are being done are residential properties or golf putting greens as opposed to other synthetic turf companies that are installing artificial turf in sports stadiums.
What that tells me is that synthetic grass is becoming even more accepted as a realistic alternative to natural grass for the lawn. Could it be that the stigma of the synthetic lawn is beginning to be overcome?
This is a company that has been at the top of the synthetic turf industry for nine years now and has had its synthetic grass installed in over 5,000 residential and commercial locations throughout Southern California.
By making some conservative estimations about the benefits the product has had on the environment the installation of all of the EasyTurf synthetic grass means that Southern California residents are now saving around 56,000 gallons of water each year. This makes the synthetic grass one of the best water conservation devices available on the market.
The fact that the company has continued to grow even through the downturn in the economy is a pretty good indicator that the synthetic grass industry is still expanding. One of the things to remember about EasyTurf is that it is primarily a landscaping synthetic grass product rather than a sports turf product. The majority of installations that are being done are residential properties or golf putting greens as opposed to other synthetic turf companies that are installing artificial turf in sports stadiums.
What that tells me is that synthetic grass is becoming even more accepted as a realistic alternative to natural grass for the lawn. Could it be that the stigma of the synthetic lawn is beginning to be overcome?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Synthetic Lawns Are More Environmentally Friendly Than Grass
Contrary to popular opinion maintaining a natural grass lawn is far more environmentally destructive than replacing it with a synthetic grass lawn. So many opponents of synthetic lawns will have you believe that putting it in the backyard in place of your grass will destroy the soil beneath it as well as the microbial activity and macro-organisms in the soil. These same people conveniently overlook the effects of concrete, tile and paving surfaces on the same ground.
Where synthetic lawn gives you such a great environmental benefit is that it replaces one of the most water thirsty plants on the planet. Grass will soak up as much water as you can feed it, green up for a day or two before beginning to wilt and turn brown again as it goes in search of another massive drink. Grass is made up of thousands upon thousands of individual grass plants all interwoven with each other. They are all enormous consumers of water and need it on a regular basis.
Maintenance of grass is mandatory. You cannot have a natural grass lawn and let it grow wild, otherwise the grass will be armpit deep and snakes and other unfriendlies will be living in it. Your grass lawn will require regular mowing and the traditional gas lawnmower spews out pollution and carbon emissions at a phenomenal rate. The old two-stroke is hardly the most efficient machine ever built and the nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide released into the atmosphere every time you cut the grass rivals the pollution produced by automobiles every year.
Replacing your grass with a synthetic grass lawn will immediately remove the need to start up the lawnmower and so, the source of a regular outflow of pollution.
You rarely hear anyone acknowledging the fact that by pottering around in the backyard we are contributing significantly to the carbon pollution that is currently dominating many minds. A synthetic lawn will allow an even more valuable commodity to be collected and that is time. By no longer having to spend as much time on the general maintenance duties that come with keeping the grass up to a certain standard, it gives you the time to concentrate your attention elsewhere.
Synthetic grass lawns are not for everybody, this is undeniable. But the arguments that many people use against the artificial alternative are largely inaccurate. If the truth were acknowledged it is simply that synthetic lawn is a new product and people are naturally wary of things that are new.
Where synthetic lawn gives you such a great environmental benefit is that it replaces one of the most water thirsty plants on the planet. Grass will soak up as much water as you can feed it, green up for a day or two before beginning to wilt and turn brown again as it goes in search of another massive drink. Grass is made up of thousands upon thousands of individual grass plants all interwoven with each other. They are all enormous consumers of water and need it on a regular basis.
Maintenance of grass is mandatory. You cannot have a natural grass lawn and let it grow wild, otherwise the grass will be armpit deep and snakes and other unfriendlies will be living in it. Your grass lawn will require regular mowing and the traditional gas lawnmower spews out pollution and carbon emissions at a phenomenal rate. The old two-stroke is hardly the most efficient machine ever built and the nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide released into the atmosphere every time you cut the grass rivals the pollution produced by automobiles every year.
Replacing your grass with a synthetic grass lawn will immediately remove the need to start up the lawnmower and so, the source of a regular outflow of pollution.
You rarely hear anyone acknowledging the fact that by pottering around in the backyard we are contributing significantly to the carbon pollution that is currently dominating many minds. A synthetic lawn will allow an even more valuable commodity to be collected and that is time. By no longer having to spend as much time on the general maintenance duties that come with keeping the grass up to a certain standard, it gives you the time to concentrate your attention elsewhere.
Synthetic grass lawns are not for everybody, this is undeniable. But the arguments that many people use against the artificial alternative are largely inaccurate. If the truth were acknowledged it is simply that synthetic lawn is a new product and people are naturally wary of things that are new.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)