Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Gulf 'dead zone' starts in your lawn

An old Midwestern plant breeder and farmer who is no tree hugger told me that the nitrogen fertilizers causing the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico the size of Lake Erie are largely from Americans' lawns. People use too much fertilizer and cut their grass too often, so the nitrogen can't stay in the soil but gets washed away and eventually makes its way down the Mississipi and into the Gulf.

Just another example of how each of us adversely affects the environment. There's no arguing about it.


By Cain Burdeau
June 14, 2011 | Huffington Post

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