California bans the SALE of gas lawn mowers and leaf blowers after 2024

[Brian Elfert]

In our society I appreciate incentive carrots more than sticks (bans). I'll never understand the sense of large lawns in the desert southwest, especially in front yards where nobody appears to use them.

A former co-worker moved to Phoenix. I visited him out there is 2021 when I was in town to visit some other friends of mine. He has maybe 300 square feet of grass in his backyard that is perfectly green, weed free, and well kept. I think a lot of golf courses would be envious. It seems a little silly to me to maintain that little patch of grass. His yard is immaculate. I think if a leaf feel from one of the trees or bushes he would grab it before it hit the ground.

[Warren Lake]

think I was told past there are people putting in astro turf.

[Warren Lake]

there you go, a toupee for your lawn.

artificial lawn.jpg

[Tom M King]

I doubt that converts much CO2.

[Warren Lake]

think there are other negatives as well then some of the CO2 will come back other ways.

CO2.JPG

[Lee DeRaud]

there you go, a toupee for your lawn.

artificial lawn.jpg

Don't get artificial grass if you have a dog that's going to walk on it, like in the picture above. My neighbor installed some in her front yard, and one hot day I checked it with my infrared thermometer: it was almost 20F hotter than her concrete driveway. (Her dog stays out back on the real grass. )

[Pat Germain]

think I was told past there are people putting in astro turf.

A lot of house in my neighborhood have astro truf. It's just SO hard to maintain a lawn in Colorado Springs. The air is very dry and wind is almost always blowing. Then we have water restrictions to boot.

But now many towns are banning astro turf because it contains chemicals. I can't keep up. My front and back yard is mostly rocks.

[Edward Weber]

As it's part of the intent of the legislation and therefore applies to the original post, there are plenty od sites where you can reasonably determine hoe much CO2 your lawn/property is either making or sequestering.
https://sciencing.com/calculate-carb...wer-24046.html
https://www.thelawninstitute.org/env...sequestration/
https://www.arborday.org/calculator/

[Doug Garson]

The second link in Edwards post states "

• In the same study as above, residential lots and open spaces such as golf courses, parks, and cemeteries had the highest carbon density per unit area when compared to other land-cover classes such as meadows and deciduous forests."

That's a surprise I would have expected a deciduous forest would be a bigger carbon sink than a lawn. Of course if you cut the lawn with a gas powered lawn mower that might reverse it.

[Alan Rutherford]

Noticing that the claim about lawns and the amount of carbon they sequester is made by The Lawn Institute should make it less of a surprise.

[Doug Garson]

Yeah, I saw that but tried not to assume they would distort the facts. Actually if you Google "which is greater carbon sink, lawn or deciduous forest", there are several other sources that agree.

[Lee DeRaud]

The second link in Edwards post states "

• In the same study as above, residential lots and open spaces such as golf courses, parks, and cemeteries had the highest carbon density per unit area when compared to other land-cover classes such as meadows and deciduous forests."

That's a surprise I would have expected a deciduous forest would be a bigger carbon sink than a lawn. Of course if you cut the lawn with a gas powered lawn mower that might reverse it.

Does "unit area" means the amount of ground covered or the leaf area? I can well believe that lawn grass is more efficient per square inch of leaf, but there's a lot less of it, especially if the lawn is mown.

[Doug Garson]

Does "unit area" means the amount of ground covered or the leaf area? I can well believe that lawn grass is more efficient per square inch of leaf, but there's a lot less of it, especially if the lawn is mown.

I think they mean the amount of ground covered.

[Mark Wedel]

I could certainly see that for areas where lawns grow 1"/week, that is pulling in a lot of of carbon. Also, at least out here in California, where all lawns need to be irrigated (no rain during the summer), I could also see those effectively growing more than the natural habitat in the area.

However, given that most people take those grass clippings and they get composted, how much carbon is then released during that composting process such that it is no longer sequestered for any length of time, compared to trees where the carbon is going into the wood and it remains sequestered until that tree dies and decomposes, which may be many years (or chopped down and used for firewood). Chopped down and used for lumber, that wood remains sequestered until burned/decomposed.

I also wonder how lawns compare to managed softwood forests where all that construction lumber comes from, since those tend to be fast growing trees.

[Edward Weber]

Does "unit area" means the amount of ground covered or the leaf area? I can well believe that lawn grass is more efficient per square inch of leaf, but there's a lot less of it, especially if the lawn is mown.

Unit area is leaf amd root area, the areas where the carbon is absorbed.
It's a unique way of saying grass is a better carbon sink than trees, a bit misleading IMO.
Not to mention different species have far different rates of carbon capture.

https://www.earth.com/news/trees-grass-carbon-sink/