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Five Ways Landscaping Harms the Environment

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Landscaping infuses manmade settings with natural elements, but ironically, we often harm the natural environment in the process. By attempting to use nature in non-natural ways, we harm the overall environment. Here are five of the most significant ways landscaping harms the environment:

1. Air Pollution--Just like cars, gas-powered landscaping equipment (e.g. lawn mowers, leaf blowers, etc.) releases tons of toxic fumes into the air.
2. Water Pollution--When we spray our lawns and landscaping with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, those chemicals drain into our water supply.
3. Wasted Water-- Water is a scarce resource in many parts of the world, and we use it like there's no tomorrow. We spend thousands of gallons of water watering our landscapes.
4. Reduced Trees--While many landscapers strive to maintain and plant trees, some landscapers still cut down trees to make space for enormous lawns. Eliminating trees, however, leads to increased erosion and levels of carbon dioxide, among other environmental problems.
5. Disrupted Natural Balance--When we decide which plants and animals we will and will not accept in our landscape, we unintentionally disrupt the food chain. Species flourish or gradually go extinct because they lack predators or food, respectively.

Feeling guilty yet? The bad news is that these five categories don't even include other problems such as soil pollution, and there's no easy solution to any of these problems. The good news, however, is that a few minor landscaping adjustments not only reduce your negative impact, but also benefit the natural environment. The slogan "Think globally; act locally" has some truth in it.

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