Their maintenance produces more greenhouse gases than they absorb, and they are biodiversity deserts that have contributed to vanishing insect populations.
Residential lawns cover 2% of US land and require more irrigation than any agricultural crop grown in the country.
If attitudes toward lawn care are shifted, however, these grassy green patches represent a gigantic opportunity.
In 2005, a NASA satellite study found that American residential lawns take up 49,000 square miles (128,000 square km) -- nearly equal in size to the entire country of Greece.
According to environmental scientists, transforming lawns into miniature modular bio-reserves could not only boost biodiversity, but could cut water and petrol consumption and reduce the use of dangerous lawn chemicals.
In western states like California, Colorado and Arizona, droughts have led to restrictions on water usage, forcing many to reconsider their thirsty lawns.
"The stuff that people are usually trying to get out of their lawn, we're saying 'No, that's good to have in your lawn!'" »
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