Plastic grass and inert grit on cradled birch board; (15cmx45cm) triptych

In 2020, the global market for plastic grass was estimated at around $3bn (£2.4bn), up from $2.5bn (£2bn) in 2016. It is projected to grow to over $5bn (£4bn) by 2027. Manufacturing plastic lawns uses fossil fuels. It is a lucrative product, it is also a product that is destroying the natural environment.

The UK is already one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet and has lost around half its biodiversity since the 1970s. Around 97% of Britain’s wildflower meadows have been destroyed since the 1930s.

It takes between 500 and 1,000 years to form just one inch of topsoil. To lay an artificial lawn, this topsoil is removed and the plastic grass is laid on a base. The remaining soil underneath this is then suffocated, killing earthworms, natural organisms and fungi that normally thrive there.

Soil is a natural carbon store. Removing a large area of grass that is actively locking carbon into the ground releases that locked carbon back into the atmosphere. A natural lawn acts as an air filter, trapping and absorbing smoke, dust, and pollutants that would otherwise be breathed in by us.

With over 20 million gardens in the UK, don’t defend the indefensible. Plastic grass is not ‘okay’ under any circumstances.