QUESTION FAKE GRASS in LGUSD.

Image from   universityhealthnews.com Do we need to be worried our kids might come down with a staph infection after scraping an elbow or knee playing tag or a game of soccer on LGUSD's proposed artificial turf play fields?   LGUSD's landscape designer lists among the drawbacks of artificial turf that " turf burns can increase the risk of MRSA ". What do turf burns look like? For those unfamiliar, "turf burn" is a skin abrasion resulting from the friction and heat experienced sliding or skidding across artificial turf.   Healthline explains  it may feel as if your skin has been scraped against sandpaper.  While scrapes and scratches from sliding or skidding across natural grass may also cause pain, that pain "may be moderate and subside within hours or days" while in sharp contrast "pain from turf burn can be intense and last for one or two weeks until the abrasion heals." "Turf burn can lead to a staph infection. These infections ar...

Image of Samuel Liu from his  school newspaper where he wrote an in-depth piece about concerns over the district's artificial turf installations Our elementary school kids are trusting grownups to be educated on the issues and advocate for them.  These kids are trusting LGUSD to make a safe decision here.  However, older students in the community have spoken out themselves in the past against artificial turf. In April 2015, Los Gatos High School student, Zoe Lam, penned this piece: " LGHS needs to listen to its constituents' opinions and concerns.   Plan resulting from Measure E is replacing ALL five athletic fields with artificial turf at LGHS. This is NOT the right choice." A petition started by Lam garnered over 300 signatures.  " Keep Natural Grass on Helm Field...  Grass on LGHS’s football field, Helm Field, should be reinstalled after renovations ."  View the petition to read the numerous and insightful comments from Los Gatos community members...

Image from Dr. Axe.   The Los Gatan, our local paper, has published another op-ed advocating to keep artificial turf off Los Gatos school campuses.  Find the first here . This recent input comes from  Denise Donnelly ,   a Los Gatos mom of three former child student-athletes, now college/graduate school adults.   Denise  had a very pointed message to share ... "Staph. Constantly recurring.  Don’t go there." Hmmm... Where have we all been cautioned about increased risk of MRSA infections ( the most common form of resistant staph bacteria that’s immune to many antibiotics )?  Oh yeah,  LGUSD's own landscape designer  warned the community about this in the artificial turf pros and cons the district distributed to all LGUSD families.

If UCSF says we shouldn’t expose children to the heat and chemical repercussions of plastic grass… feels like we should listen. Pediatric health is so important. As parents, we put our children’s well-being before our own. Full letter below. CliffsNotes: Doctors at UCSF do not support the installation of artificial turf at LGUSD schools even if an alternative to crumb rubber is chosen for infill. Increased injury rates, staph infections, and heat index (up to 160 degrees).  Concern regarding children’s exposure, dermal and ingestion, to artificial turf surfaces, with PFAS being of particular concern.  

Share your input with the decision-makers, the LGUSD Board of Trustees. Images from lgusd.org LGUSD is developing plans to build "Outdoor Classrooms" in elementary school courtyards using artificial turf as one of the primary surfaces.   By installing artificial turf, LGUSD risks adding more  heavy metals and  chemicals , particularly PFAS which is found to be  contaminating drinking water ,  to the environment.   PFAS can  poison humans  over time, even in very low doses, because it bioaccumulates.   LGUSD, let's follow the precautionary principle and landscape without artificial turf.  The precautionary principle is a cost-effective way to minimize pollution and environmental damage.   Taking artificial turf off the menu of landscaping materials would demonstrate value for public health.  It would also demonstrate environmental stewardship, which LGUSD calls out as one of the guiding principles for this project. FAQ: What c...

Background image from FairWarning Attention supporters The petition below was started 11-12-2021 and was closed 1-24-2022.   Please sign our newer petition at https://www.change.org/NoPlasticTurfLGUSD , even if you signed the petition below.   Why?  Because there's reason to be concerned the petition below may have been misconstrued by leadership as primarily representing opposition to tire crumb rubber infill, even though LGUSD, from the start, has been proposing to use an alternative infill product. Thank you for your support!      Backgrounder Los Gatos Union School District is on the verge of making significant changes to its elementary school campus landscapes with regard to play fields, classroom courtyards and outdoor play spaces, including one specifically for kindergarteners. Artificial turf is being considered for many of these surfaces. The district management staff have concluded, without sufficient evidence, that artificial tu...

Will the artificial turf at Los Gatos schools contribute to the contamination of drinking water ?? "We're talking about a massive public health threat...   We're now talking about, probably one of the biggest environmental contamination stories in history, and most of us still don't know about it.   We know about Flint , Michigan -- one water supply.  Yet here, we're talking about something that's in water all over the world, in all of our blood, in animals, polar bears, eagles and we're all just now starting to hear about this, because this information was withheld and covered up for years."  - Robert Bilott, the lawyer who  took DuPont to court over PFAS-contaminated drinking water and won

Image from businessinsider.com Think installing plastic grass constitutes doing your part to respond to climate change?  Think again.   Trace that messaging back to its source.  The source is NOT  Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD).  The source is most likely an entity that profits  when you buy an artificial turf system... probably someone in the petroleum industry, plastics  industry , chemical  industry  or artificial turf industry.   The companies polluting the planet have spent millions to make you think carpooling and recycling will save us . These companies have also spent millions to make you think installing plastic grass will save us. If you have fallen under the spell of those that make money when you buy plastic grass, it's time to wake up.  Plastic grass is NOT an environmentally-responsible way to deal with drought . Our water district, SCVWD, like other districts throughout the state: promotes water conservati...

Image from The Story of Stuff  video in this post on "externalized costs". LGUSD is proposing to install artificial turf on its campuses.   Artificial turf contains PFAS. PFAS have been linked to reproductive problems, cancer and other health issues. Concerns have become grave enough that, as of just recently, California has: banned PFAS chemicals from items for young children and food packaging. (Beware: Artificial turf remains unregulated . Artificial turf is, incredulously , not classified as a childrens' product.) forbidden manufacturers of cookware to label their products as free of any particular toxic chemical if the pots or pans contain PFAS.  restricted use of environmental labels claiming product compostability or recyclability. PFAS is so persistent and so pervasive in our environment that, coupled with the fact that it bioaccumulates in our bodies, it's now found almost universally in blood and breastmilk samples tested! However, it is completely il...