To the editor: As this article says, there are thousands and thousands of artificial grass acres that are being installed in public parks, schools and universities in California, creating health and environmental problems due to the use of oil products in its manufacture (“As California installs more artificial grass, health and environmental concerns multiply,” September 17). For many years, the artificial grass has been the cemetery of old tires, downloading that problem of tire recycling problems.
We replace the grass with grass. Bamboo is now a sustainable source in the construction of products such as floors and furniture, as well as fabrics and blinds. The plant grows like crazy and is not complicated to harvest and process. Production should be handled so that the soil of nutrients does not display over time, such as many crops. But it would probably be much less expensive to reap and manufacture as “artificial” grass than the Nylon and the plastic of fossil fuel drilling, and is not full of chemicals and other poisons. We need to prevent toxic chemicals from entering our soil and basins and provide a cold and permeable game surface.
I am sure that I am not the first person to consider this idea for development; I even bet that there has been some exploration of the cultivation and processing mechanics of a natural fiber for use as artificial grass. Who knows how many development efforts have been marginalized by fossil fuel interests?
Laurie Barlow, San Marino
