Hybrid Grass

This is not about pot. Hopefully no one thinks I would ever come up with a new strain of marijuana, or even suggest that world needs one.

Nope, this is about kids and their sports fields.

There's been a big shift at public parks to use more synthetic grass made of recycled tire rubber and plastic. There's almost zero maintenance and because it makes an even surface, probably less injuries. And less upkeep (including water) is probably a good thing as it frees up money for more parks and services.

But there are a couple of drawbacks to this material. For one, bits of the rubber tend to get dislodged during play (from shoes, balls, etc) and they end up on clothes, in hair, etc. It's bad news. There's even studies that suggest prolonged exposure to these surfaces could be toxic (there's mercury in the tire rubber).

But the biggest problem is from the heat. The plastic and rubber can heat up on a hot summer day to upwards of 150 degrees. Way too hot for kids to be playing anywhere near. There's a serious risk of thermal burns, heat stroke, and other heat related illnesses. I don't know, it hardly seems worth the risk. Of course, I should point out there are no reported cases of injuries caused by the heat from an artificial field. Just lots of extra water breaks.

So what's the solution? Fuck if I know. But here's what I think might work.

Use both real grass and synthetic grass on the same field. There are a couple of ways you could do this. If it's a field that gets used for a specific sport, like soccer, then use synthetic grass where the majority of the action is and real grass where there is less foot traffic and subsequently less need for repair.

But here's what I think would totally work. Just lay down alternating strips (lawn mower width) of real grass and synthetic. If you could arrange your irrigation so that only the real grass got water (you'd use half as much) then this would totally work. You'd only have to mow the real strips, too. The biggest factor would be that the real grass would help keep the heat factor down a little bit, just by virtue of it being a living, breathing thing. I suppose this might look a little funny, especially if you weren't able to mow it and all. But it's for the kids, not for your stupid eyes.

The rubber debris might still be an issue, but they're working on a sand base that might help with that.