Article submitted by Artificial Turf Supply
One of the benefits that synthetic turf grass offers is that it can be a “greener” alternative to natural grass fields. That might seem like an odd statement; after all, plants seem like they should be much better for the environment than their synthetic alternatives. However, synthetic fields from just one company, FieldTurf, has given over five million used tires a new home, saved over 675 million gallons of H2O that would have otherwise been used to water natural grass, and prevented over 6.6 million pounds of pesticides from being released into the environment.
FieldTurf has now shown another way that the industry can make the use of commercial and residential artificial grass a very green practice. For the first time, an old artificial turf was recycled, with the materials to be used in a new turf system. The field came from War Memorial Stadium in the state of Arkansas. The stadium decided to upgrade their field to the newest synthetic lawn turf. The old field will be shredded by FieldTurf so that the materials can be reused.
While there have been concerns over the materials used in artificial turf leeching into the surrounding environment and the water table, assessments by several states and the EPA has determined that the material is safe to use. It is an industry that is committed to environmental issues, even as they’re creating artificial landscaping. The recycling of old field products shows that the industry itself has taken a step forward in preserving nature.