Yes, there may be some oddities in the statistics. But I don't think DowntoEarth made these numbers up. It would have been better if he had given the source. (where did you get these numbers?)
If anyone has the stomach for it, check out the responses to this same post on the Commercial Lawn Care forum. That is exactly why I originally suggested that we start a separate forum for the "organic angle". You would think that everyone in the industry would be very interested in such figures.
One on hand, this was presented as just some numbers that may be of interest, (and like I say, should be EXTREMELY interesting to all), with no particular slant, but on the other hand, there is the comment at the end "Watch what you're doing guys." That kind of puts a slant on it. Actually it is probably true that most of the overuse and improper use of pesticides and fertilizers is done by non-professionals, who are also more likely to be using older and dirtier equipment. And of course it is the uneducated homeowners who use way more water on their lawns than is needed.
But it is certainly of great interest to get the big picture and to see how it all adds up. Of course no such numbers can ever be accurate and they are also changing all the time.
I have mentioned before a most excellent book which should be of great interest to all in the industry: Redesigning the American Lawn - A Search for Environmental Harmony. This is a very serious book, published by Yale University. The second edition came out in 2001. Here is an Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300086946/
Here are some numbers I've extracted from this book:
Total number of acres of turfgrass in America: 27.6 million (about the size of Pennsylvania)
76 percent of that (about 21 million acres) is home lawns
average size of home lawn is 1/3 acre
about 49 percent of Americans take care of their own lawn
lawn care industry is $30 billion a year
world market for pesticides $37 billion in 1997, with 32 percent of that for lawn care in the US
up to 30 percent of urban water on East coast used for lawn care in 1990
75 percent of homeowners never water their lawns at all
That's just a few statistics from the book. Of course they did not make those numbers up, all are documented. But of course they are all from various times and sources and all are inaccurate. Still it is very interesting to see some figures which may help to understand the big picture of lawns and the lawn care industry.
One thing to get from such numbers - Wow, looks like a great potential for business. Lots of lawns to take care of!
And while the book may be pointing out the size of the industry, it may also be indicating that a great amount of the improper use of chemicals is by uneducated homeowners.
One of the responses in the other forum was in reference to water use. This is actually a very serious issue. Water tables are falling and streams are drying up. We have all seen irrigation systems watering lawns while rain is falling. We all know that most lawns need one inch of water per week (and that this may be provided by rainfall). And we have all seen lawns ruined by over-watering. As lawn care professoinals it is part of our job to counsel people on how to water their lawns. It is also possible to follow some organic principles which can cause a lawn to require less watering.
No need to make this a black and white issue. Like you're either on one side or the other. We're all on this planet together. And those of us in the lawn care industry have a responsibilty to make sure that we are doing our best not to harm the earth as we provide the lawns and landscaping that people want. It all adds up, which is the point of the statistics.
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