|
The overuse of water in maintaining urban landscapes results in many kinds of pollution as well as wasting the resource. By improving how efficiently we use water, we can provide for agriculture and industry, protect the environment, and ensure that there is plenty of clean water for everyone.
Facts About Landscape Water Use
- On average 50 – 70% of all household water is used outdoors.
- There are over 30 million acres of green lawns in the U.S.
- Seventy million pounds of pesticide get applied to home lawns, trees, and shrubs a year, polluting groundwater and sending phosphates and nitrates into lakes and streams.
- Every day 7.8 billion gallons of water is devoted to outdoor uses, mostly landscaping, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
- Scientists note that reservoir levels are dropping as cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas expand. The Southwest drought has become so severe that even the sagebrush is dying.
- It takes 2.5 billion gallons of water to support the world's population of 4.7 billion people. Ironically, this is the same amount of water 2.5 billion gallons that is used every day to irrigate the world's golf courses.
- Some 54 million people mow their lawns each week in the summer, using 800 million gallons of gas a year. More than 5 percent of urban air pollution comes from gas-powered lawn mowers.
|
