Sprinklers

I'd like to propose that everyone stop using automated and/or timed sprinklers to water grass at private residences.  This proposal would save water and money, prevent unnecessary water damage, and would have the collateral benefit of enhancing the emotional and psychological connections between people and the spaces they inhabit. 

 

This proposal stems from daily observations of sprinklers spraying all sorts of things that should not be watered.  I like to go running at night.  Tonight for example, I left for a run at 12:15 AM.  During that run I was sprayed by sprinklers close to two dozen times.  It wasn’t unpleasant, but it means that all those sprinklers were hitting the sidewalk or street.  Judging from the houses as I ran by, I don’t think that most people were awake at 12:15 AM.  In turn, I’m led to believe that all those sprinkler systems are automated or timed.  So either most people don’t know that they are wasting all that water, or they don’t care (some people seem to purposely set their sprinklers higher than needed so they can water the main lawn as well as the strip of grass between the sidewalk and street at the same time.  If you’re doing that, please stop.  It’s extremely discourteous to the community, pedestrians, and the environment.)

 

If we’re going to have lawns, I recommend we hand water them with the hose.  This can be great fun for kids, and will waste less water to evaporation than those counterintuitive misting sprinklers so many people have.   If we must use sprinklers, please monitor them yourself.  If they're broken and gushing water, fix them or turn them off.  If they're spraying the street or parked cars, fix their aim.  If it’s raining outside, you probably don’t need them that day.  Yes, this will take time and effort.  But the rewards will be worth it.  Plus, I think that if we take greater responsibility for what is going on in our yards and our world we will enjoy a greater sense of satisfaction in numerous other aspects of our lives.     

 

If we’re talking about lawns, I have to mention that environmental experts point out that lawns are one of the most wasteful ways to use water, especially in desert regions.  Though I agree with this, I also recognize that it will be a long time, if ever, that people give up grass.  I also think that there is something to be said for having aesthetically pleasing plants around a house that also keep down dust.  In any case, there are big steps we could take to improve the environment (like eliminating grass completely), but in the mean time if we all tried a little bit harder to be frugal with our water we’d start seeing big results.  (Also, it would of course be better if everyone had a garden instead of a lawn.  However, most people are locked in jobs that prevent them from spending adequate time on gardens and I would thusly blame the capitalist economy for the lack of gardens.  I would also blame capitalism for the proliferation of the suburbs, which epitomize lawn-culture.  This is really a topic for a different post, but my point is that criticizing lawn-oriented water consumption addresses the symptoms of a larger problem, not the problem itself.)

 

So lets stop watering concrete, car doors, and late-night runners.  Just because we can automate something doesn’t mean that we should, and getting a little more involved with our residences probably won’t hurt.