Hello toot friends, I bring #antiLawn memes.
I'm hoping to radicalise you all against the boring monoculture lawn and turn you into biodiversity defenders.
@pezmico So refreshing. After bumping into a depressing lawn propaganda channel (SBMowing), I needed my dose of #AntiLawn injection to feel alive again.
Did you know that the green lawn that is so common today was originally a way for the landed gentry to show off their wealth? It was meant to imply the owner could afford to have all this land being non productive, setting them apart from those whose livelihood depended on what they could cultivate.
From the beginning, it was an ostentatious display of obscene wealth. #antiLawn
While we are living through a #ClimateEmergency, we should do everything to restore life, nature and balance to our ecosystems.
Lawns are definitely not helping us.
We could grow food instead of invasive green grass.
It is true that the average backyard will not be productive enough to sustain even a single family needs, but it will provide something. And more importantly it will be a refuge for bugs and worms and birds. It will also make us feel connected to the earth and have some control over our food sources.
Besides, if everyone does it, we could possibly sustain each other in the future.
But perhaps even better than food Gardens are native gardens.
They will sustain a wide variety of wildlife and restore balance to our environment.
Plus they usually require very little maintenance, which is not only cheaper but also cleaner than firing up your fossil fuel powered lawnmower. #antiLawn
Wilder, more diverse lawns also do a great job of absorbing water, preventing floods. They also act as carbon sinks, keeping some of that carbon away from our atmosphere and doing their bit for #ClimateChangeMitigation #antiLawn
Keeping a green mowed lawn is expensive, labour intensive, water intensive and, let's face it, noisy and annoying.
What do we get in return?
Little more than avoided criticism from uptight neighbours and nosy resident associations. It gives us nothing except keeping us from being (wrongly) judged in our neighbourhood.
We can do better. #antiLawn
But criticism and peer pressure are certainly a strong force. So we need to start by talking about it. We need to discuss the absurdity of lawns with those around us and get them excited about the alternatives.
If you are renting, this might be even harder or even impossible. But you can try.
Or you could try seed bombs or guerrilla gardening instead. 😏
Wild gardens can also be perfectly suitable for leisure and recreation. We have been brainwashed into believing everyone needs a green flat square to sit in. But they are lifeless and dull.
Our kids will have more adventures and grow to be curious and filled with wonder when their environment is richer. #antiLawn
Anyway I hope you are now fully radicalised #antiLawn and ready to re-wild your bit of planet.
It is easy to feel there's nothing we can do to help our Earth, but even a small lawn can be a huge ecosystem, from the viewpoint of tiny bug or butterfly.
I'm overwhelmed and grateful by the response my silly thread is having.
Of course there's lots that I don't know, I just put together a few memes!
But if you want to go deeper I can recommend reading the book Food Not Lawns.
It is freely available here (email registration required, I think) : https://www.foodnotlawns.com/book/
Now that autumn is getting on its way, it's good to remember that leaves enrich the ground and provide shelter for lifeforms that are good for the health of the soil and the ecosystem.
Not only is it an elitist ecological disaster of a massive manicured lawn every NIMBY loves, it is also so boring the winner is whoever manages to play the least of it.
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