Yet tens of thousands of beneficial insects, birds and small animals are killed every year by the lawn chemicals we apply to our yards. The birds and animals are being poisoned simply by feeding on sites where we grow our food and where we let our children play. And this dodges the problems that much of the time the chemicals are in fact not properly applied. Because groundwater is the source of drinking water for nearly half of the nation, this gives us ample reason to reflect on what unintended side effects chemicals used on lawns might eventually cause. Pesticides are not the only chemical problem associated with lawns.
Chemical fertilizers are another issue.
In 1990, roughly three million tons which amounts to 15 percent of all American fertilizer use went into lawn care. The average large American front lawn requires more fertilizer than is needed to feed a Third World family. Because church lawns tend to be substantially larger than home lawns, this can equate to an amount of fertilizer that might feed several families for an entire year. To provide perspective on this quantity of fertilizer, India, with a population more than twice that of the United States, used about the same amount of fertilizer on all of its food crops as Americans use on their lawns. What has been presented here is a brief overview of problems associated with an imprudent use of chemicals on lawns.