Even in drought, Santa Clara Valley Water District does NOT promote installing artificial turf.

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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 conservation
  • does NOT promote artificial turf

SCVWD explains the many reasons why it does NOT promote artificial turf in its "Water Conservation Fact Sheet on Artificial Turf" below.
  
Here are some of the reasons SCVWD does NOT promote artificial turf...

Artificial turf:

  • fails to sequester carbon
  • increases air temperatures
  • fails to cool air temperatures (like living landscapes can!)
  • fails to filter pollutants & improve water quality
  • may pollute groundwater w/ chemicals & heavy metals
  • is NOT water free (requiring water for cleaning dog poo, sweat, blood, saliva, etc. & sometimes for cooling)
  • may end up in landfill after its short lifespan

Also of note that even at the highest stage of water conservation, San Jose Water considers watering playing fields a reasonable use of water.