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Safety and sustainability go hand in hand
8 Mar, 2010 By: Ron Hall Athletic Turf NewsSustainability for sports fields is a tough subject to nail down. There’s no precise definition for it. Admittedly, I had a tough time making a convincing argument for implementing “greener” management practices during a recent presentation before a gathering of sports field pros at the Kentucky Turf and Landscape Short Course in Louisville, KY.
Anticipating that the audience would expect me to talk about pesticide use, I didn’t disappoint. The topic of chemical use, and pesticides in particular, heats up during any discussion concerning sustainability in regards to any manmade, managed area of turfgrass, including sports fields. But focusing so completely on whether or not pesticides fit into anyone’s definition of a “green” sports field management program takes attention away from the bigger (indeed the biggest) issue in sports field management: safety. Player safety. Spectator safety. Employee safety.
Anti-pesticide bias
During my talk, of course, I shared that many cities and several provinces in Canada have all but banned the use of synthetic pesticides on sports fields. I related also that grounds managers in the State of Connecticut are forbidden from using them on common areas and sports fields in grade schools. Connecticut is not alone. Communities and school systems in other states have gone the same route, and more will follow.
What effect have these restrictions had on the safety and attractiveness of sports fields? That’s not clear yet, not to me anyway. Hopefully those of you who no longer use pesticides to maintain your fields (either by choice or because you are forbidden) will email me and share your experiences with the rest of us — both the positive and the not-so-positive.
Some school and community sports fields are doing quite well sans pesticides, we’re told. Veteran grounds professional Kevin Trotta, who spoke at this January’s STMA Conference, maintains safe and attractive sports fields at North Rockland Central Schools in New York. He describes his management strategy as “environmental turfcraft.”
Green Industry professional Chip Osborne claims similar success eschewing pesticide use on the grounds and sports fields in Marblehead, MA. He spoke at the STMA national conference several years ago.
Just one piece of the puzzle
Would less-experienced managers, and especially those maintaining fields that get extensive use, have similar success in keeping their fields safe and attractive without the benefit of pesticides? What about player and spectator expectations? Certainly, they figure heavily into sports field pros’ management strategies and product decisions.
Pesticide use is merely one piece of the larger picture comprising responsible sports field management. Other vital practices of greener sports field management include proper fertilizer, water and equipment use.
Using the appropriate types of fertilizers in the appropriate amounts and applying them at appropriate times is vital to healthy turfgrass. Intelligent fertilization also minimizes pollution in our streams, lakes and bays. The same goes for irrigation — proper design, proper maintenance, proper amounts of water to maintain turfgrass vitality and no more.
Emissions and noise are generally regarded as the largest environmental negative associated with equipment use on landscapes. But looking at the bigger picture, a sports field manager’s greater responsibility in terms of equipment is operator training for safety’s sake. Equipment manufacturers are making strides in reducing emissions.
In the end, sustainable sports field management means implementing best management practices (BMPs) when it comes to fertilization, weed control, irrigation, mowing and other related activities. As important as BMPs are — and they’re extremely important — their implementation, while vital to “environmental turfcraft,” to borrow a phrase, is central to every sports field manager’s greatest responsibility: field safety.
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