The Lawn
Saturday morning. The neighbour's mower starts at 8 AM. He's watering a monoculture that feeds nothing and drinks everything.
The System
Two-thirds of Canadian households have a lawn. Half water it. Municipal water use spikes 50% or more every summer, mostly from outdoor watering. We treat drinking water to the highest standard, then spray it on grass.
Summer water use increase
Water per 1,000 sq ft lawn
Irrigation water lost to evaporation
50%+ increase in potable water use every summer, primarily from outdoor watering. In Ontario, 30-50% of residential summer water goes straight to lawns.
55,000 to 75,000 litres per year. That's how much water a 1,000 square foot lawn drinks. Up to 50% of irrigation water is lost to evaporation before it even hits the roots.
Let's hear the other side
...and see if it holds water
Lawns aren't purely wasteful. Actively growing turfgrass averages 4 degrees Celsius cooler than urban hardscape and up t...
The Promise
Quebec banned cosmetic pesticides in 2003. Ontario followed in 2009. The promise was that provinces would move toward safer, more ecological landscaping. Some went backward instead.
Quebec led with a cosmetic pesticide ban in 2003. Ontario followed in 2009. Then Manitoba repealed its ban in 2022. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and BC have no provincial bans at all. Progress isn't a straight line.
The Reality
The lawn is a monoculture. It supports almost no insect life. Pollinators are in decline and monoculture lawns are part of the problem. We mow, water, fertilize, and spray millions of acres of land that produces nothing — not food, not habitat, not carbon storage.
Two-thirds of Canadian households have a lawn. Half water it. That's millions of households pouring treated drinking water onto a monoculture that feeds no pollinators, stores minimal carbon, and produces no food.
What Works
No Mow May is growing across Canada. Municipalities are starting to allow naturalized yards. Native plant gardens support 10-50 times more pollinator species than turf grass. The alternative isn't a mess. It's an ecosystem.
No Mow May is growing. Municipalities across Canada are relaxing lawn bylaws to allow naturalized yards. Native plant gardens support dramatically more pollinator species than monoculture turf. The shift is starting from the ground up.
What You Can Do
Stop watering the lawn. Plant native species. Ask your municipality to update bylaws that penalize naturalized yards. Support No Mow May. If your province doesn't ban cosmetic pesticides, ask why.
Convert part of your lawn to native plants. Participate in No Mow May. Ask your municipal council to allow naturalized yards. If you're in Alberta, Saskatchewan, or BC, push for a provincial cosmetic pesticide ban.