Air and Water Benefits

Guides

FAQs

Air and Water

The use of turfgrass can help to reduce air pollution, purify our water supply and lower our energy consumption. Strategic use of lawn areas in parks and open space can often lower the heat island effect in urban areas and aid in reducing global warming trends.

Yes. One of the best ways to reduce air pollution is have a well maintained lawn. Grass areas act as natural air filters to trap and remove dust and other particles from the air. Through the process of photosynthesis turfgrass absorbs carbon dioxide and releases clean oxygen in return.

Yes. Recent studies show lawns to be net sequesters of carbon, storing up to 4 times more carbon than is emitted by the lawn mowers used to maintain them.

Yes. Lawns are an excellent producer of oxygen. A lawn area 50 ft x 50 ft produces enough oxygen for the daily needs of a family of four. An acre of grass will produce enough oxygen for 64 people a day. Reducing your carbon footprint begins right at home.1 The grass along our interstate highways produce enough oxygen to support 22 million people. Every acre of grass will supply enough oxygen for 64 people a day.2

1 The Lawn Institute

2 Maryland Agricultural Statistics Service

Yes. The grassy areas of our community parks and open space may help reduce the greenhouse effect of urban areas.

We would not live long in a world without oxygen. Our very survival depends on it. The next time you are watching your grass grow, take a moment to consider how valuable it is to our air quality. Through the process of photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and water, use sunlight to produce energy and release oxygen, helping to clean the air that we breathe.

Runoff can be greatly reduced with the establishment of green spaces. Lawns and grassy areas purify water and filter contaminants as they pass through the root zone and into underground aquifers. Microbes in the soil help to breakdown chemicals and contaminants before they reach water supplies. Rain water filtered through lawn areas is often 10 times less acidic than water running off hard surfaces.1

1The Lawn Institute

Yes. Turfgrass slows down the flow of water across the landscape, permitting water to penetrate the soil before it runs off the surface. Grassy areas prevent and delay water runoff, helping with storm water management.

Yes. The importance of grass to our water supplies has never been greater. The filtration properties of turfgrass are so effective that many municipalities are now using reclaimed water systems to irrigate parks and golf courses.

While reclaimed water cannot be returned to municipal water supplies, it can be used to irrigate turf areas where it is filtered as it passes through the root zone.

Yes. Turfgrass, with its unique purifying and filtering properties, has proven to be an important asset in our efforts to clean the environment.