Synthetic Turf Becoming Standard

You can’t keep a good idea down, as artificial turf is now coming to a high school in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. According to a report, the turf field will enable the high school on whose field it is being installed to derive greater use from the fields for sports team activities, community club activities and for PE classes.

This particular project will cost a little over 1 million dollars ($1.3 million) and artificial turf installation will begin this semester and will be completed just in time for the football season next semester.

The idea of installing artificial turf in the high school’s sports fields was first discussed a few years ago. The supporters of the idea expounded on the fact that a sports field fitted with artificial turf has unlimited use because the players and students etc. can play on it whenever they want without having to worry about getting rained out and so on. They also cited artificial turf’s lowered maintenance costs, lowered water usage, and increased potential for revenue generation.

They also mentioned the fact that when the school isn’t using it, the school could make money by renting it out to other organizations. A great idea for generating additional revenue.

The Board of Education in Parsippany, New Jersey, has decided to install synthetic turf in two of the local high schools in the area. The Board of Education has said that they are doing so because synthetic turf installed at the schools will be a benefit to the students and to the community.

The synthetic turf installations at the two high schools will cost a total of $2.7 million. One high school field’s conversion will cost $1.5 million and the other will cost $1.2 million. The installation will be done during the summer and they hope to have it completed before the beginning of the next football season.

The contractor who will be working on the installation of the two synthetic turf fields has said that the installation is a bit more expensive because of more extensive structural modifications that must be completed with respect to drainage. It’s worth paying more up front to get the installation done correctly than pay for it in expensive hazards later on.

The sports that will be played on the fields are football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse.

It looks like installing synthetic turf is not just a passing fad but rather the new standard in high school sports fields.

If you’re a homeowner and are thinking about putting an artificial grass putting green in your back yard, you may want to heed this story. In Nebraska, a homeowner who installed a putting green in his yard after purportedly getting it approved by his homeowners association, is now being ordered to permanently remove it and replace it with natural grass and install a sprinkler system. The homeowner has taken the case to an appeals court to get it overturned.

Nebraska is currently in a drought, but that hasn’t stopped homeowners associations from cleaving to their archaic preconceptions of what a yard should look like and ruthlessly protecting their properties from being devalued by the homeowner in question’s "progressive” putting green.

Despite the fact that the putting green saves water and actually looks better than natural grass, the homeowners association, Fire Ridge Estates Homeowners Association, has decided to bully the homeowner. The homeowner claims that the homeowners association hasn’t universally applied their other policies and hence are showing themselves to be exemplars of selective enforcement, witch-hunting homeowners whom they simply don’t like for one reason or another, while conniving at the violations of others who happen to be in their favor.

London is becoming the European epicenter of the artificial grass revolution! And the revolution isn’t limited to grass products, either – other verticals are adopting artificial plastic products because of increased demand and popularity.

According to the Telegraph, fake flowers are the new hot item for purchase as a gift during Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day this year, and that at least for one flower seller, sales have increased by more than 70 percent since last year around the same time. Their popularity is due to their hypoallergenic character and the fact that the technologies have advanced so far in the last few years that the silk flowers we’re all used to have become obsolete.

Same thing with artificial grass, apparently. Artificial grass lawns in London are cropping up due to their low maintenance costs, and the fact that you don’t have to worry about ugly dead grass patches or weeds crawling all over the place. In fact, artificial grass owners in London are so happy with their investments in artificial grass that once they install the artificial grass they even feel the need to convert all of their friends and neighbors to artificial grass. Many people’s first impulse is to dismiss artificial grass, because they aren’t aware of the huge leaps the technology has undergone recently.

The use of synthetic turf is exploding around the country as more and more public sports fields are being converted to synthetic turf. But along with this popularity has come increased scrutiny. The synthetic turf infill crumb rubber is now being questioned by the public and organizations because of its purported adverse health effects.

Some claim that merely being exposed to it poses a health risks to children, while others claim that it has to be ingested to be harmful. Nevertheless, a representative for the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery says that the tests that have been completed have consistently reported that recycled crumb rubber on synthetic turf fields is not harmful enough to be prohibited. Also, the department is planning to study the health effects of "chronic" ingestion of crumb rubber infill from synthetic turf, which we can be certain will come back with negative results for infill because chronically ingesting any non-organic compound can't have salutary effects.

Furthermore a state toxicologist in Connecticut says that because children play on the synthetic turf fields and synthetic turf playgrounds installed with crumb rubber so infrequently, their exposure can't be considered chronic.

The debate and conjecture will have to continue until conclusive tests are conducted.

The use of synthetic turf is exploding around the country as more and more public sports fields are being converted to synthetic turf. But along with this popularity has come increased scrutiny. The synthetic turf infill crumb rubber is now being questioned by the public and organizations because of its purported adverse health effects.

Some claim that merely being exposed to it poses a health risks to children, while others claim that it has to be ingested to be harmful. Nevertheless, a representative for the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery says that the tests that have been completed have consistently reported that recycled crumb rubber on synthetic turf fields is not harmful enough to be prohibited. Also, the department is planning to study the health effects of "chronic” ingestion of crumb rubber infill from synthetic turf, which we can be certain will come back with negative results for infill because chronically ingesting any non-organic compound can’t have salutary effects.

Furthermore a state toxicologist in Connecticut says that because children play on the synthetic turf fields and synthetic turf playgrounds installed with crumb rubber so infrequently, their exposure can’t be considered chronic.

The debate and conjecture will have to continue until conclusive tests are conducted.

A sports complex outfitted with 12 synthetic turf fields is planned to be built in Kent County, Delaware. The project will cost a total of $24 million, but will generate that same amount each year. There are many reasons the organizers have decided to install synthetic turf in the fields in the new complex. Number one is proven demand. Just last year, the current facility's three synthetic turf fields just couldn't meet the demands the public was making for their synthetic turf fields.

Not surprisingly, another reason is that the synthetic turf fields will be a significant source of revenue for the complex and the community at large. The synthetic turf sports fields will attract visitors from out of state to come play important sports tournaments on the fields, who will in turn spend money on local businesses. The revenue could be even higher if the synthetic turf fields become as important as some of the organizers think it will be.

The synthetic turf will also save the Kent County sports facility money on maintenance expenses. They project that the synthetic turf fields will cut maintenance costs by ¾ of what it would be with natural sod.

Indeed, Kent County has joined the revolution of synthetic turf on sports fields.

California's drought is only getting worse, which is teaching people that water is a valuable resource that shouldn't be squandered. This means that the artificial grass industry both of installers and of manufacturers and distributors is going to continue to grow and prosper, even more than it has in the past few years.

Among the water restrictions which are now instituted are:

1. No washing your vehicle with non-shut-off nozzles

2. No spraying your driveway or sidewalk off with water

3. No runoff from your backyard

4. No serving water at restaurants unless it's requested by the customer

5. Hotels must give guests the choice of not washing their linens every day

6. Homeowners are not allowed to water their lawns during or for 48 hours after a storm

In addition to these restrictions, homeowners also have the option of replacing their turf yards with artificial grass and getting rewarded 2$ per square foot for doing so. That can equate to as much as a 25% off the total cost of an artificial grass installation in some cases. Also, San Diego has a bill in the pipeline that would allow homeowners to install artificial grass in their yards even if they live under a homeowners association's domain.

Glendale Unified School District's public school fields have been installed for nearly ten years, first being installed in 2006. The synthetic turf was original installed with crumb rubber. But crumb rubber has come under controversy lately because of the increased media attention on the potential health risks of the lead in the rubber. The school district has responded by paying for chemical tests of the crumb rubber; the results will be reviewed at the next board meeting.

None of the alternatives to crumb rubber have been deemed acceptable, though. Alternative infills for the synthetic turf field proposed are cryogenic crumb rubber, which is crumb rubber with a coating, and coconut shells. Cryogenic crumb rubber might be a safe alternative but it's twice as expensive as crumb rubber. Coconut shells is an organic material but problematic because it promotes mold growth.

The school board members think, however, that the crumb rubber tests will indicate that the crumb rubber in synthetic turf fields is not harmful to children. It looks like until tests come back which positively state that crumb rubber is harmful in the long-term, synthetic turf will be allowed despite some of the public concerns because the alternatives aren't viable.

Drought conditions are escalating in San Diego and Los Angeles. In these parched conditions, the advantages of artificial grass become more apparent and more and more residences and commercial properties are beginning to install it. If your home or business is located in the San Diego or Los Angeles areas, an up-and-coming artificial grass company's products are gaining recognition and repute in the artificial grass world. The company is Global Syn-Turf. Their artificial grass San Diego warehouse is situated at 12215 Kirkham Rd, San Diego, CA 92064.

Not only have their products been tested, but they are also recommended because of their excellent service in Southern California. Stop by the warehouse and peruse samples , and if you artificial grass rolls being shipped to you, call them at (858) 486-7333, and they will be able to tell you precisely where your shipment of artificial grass is in its shipment and when it will arrive at your door.

Hear at dream-grass.com, we are experts in evaluating artificial grass San Diego companies and artificial grass Los Angeles companies, and none are as robust and constant as the products and service we've encountered at Global Syn-Turf's artificial grass Los Angeles and artificial grass San Diego locations.

Their artificial grass Los Angeles warehouse is located at 6319 Chalet Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90040.

To remain competitive as a high school football team means every opportunity for enhancing practice and the team's skills must be taken advantage of. One way of doing this is to make sure your team is practicing on the best surface possible and one which your competitors are practicing on. Synthetic turf is becoming a standard surface for high school athletics including football. Therefore your team should be practicing on synthetic turf to compete against high schools who are doing so as well.

And while synthetic turf saves money in the long term, the initial investment of installment can be expensive. Thus paying for the synthetic turf can be prohibitively expensive for some high schools. One high school, however, has introduced an effective method of raising money, by selling ad space on the turf itself.

A high school in Belleville, IL, has done just that to pay for the $1.4 million synthetic turf installation, along with booster clubs and donations.

And if they want to remove the advertisements, all they have to do is cut the synthetic turf out and replace it with the ad-free synthetic turf.

The high school says that now that they have synthetic turf fields, they can play on it 365 days a year.

A township in Pennsylvania is voting on whether to install synthetic turf in their school fields. They hired an engineer to conduct a study to find out how much the costs of synthetic turf and natural turf would be for comparison.

Right now, with natural turf installed, the field can only host 40 events per year because of mud and maintenance, etc. If synthetic turf is installed, on the other hand, the usability will be 400 events per year. This increase would mean that all of the school's teams and clubs could have unhampered access to the synthetic turf field and it would also mean that the synthetic turf fields could be rented out to organizations and interested parties, which would make money for the school and would be good for the local economy.

One objector pointed out, though, that the board has a history of renting out the fields for free and then paying for the maintenance with taxpayers' money.

The natural turf would cost $595,000 to maintain over ten years. Synthetic turf would cost more to install, around $779,000 and maintenance would only cost $50,000 over ten years.

If installed, the fields would be ready for play by the next school year.

A soccer league in Encinitas, CA, is lobbying for synthetic turf to be installed on one of the soccer fields that they use. There is a scarcity of publicly available soccer fields, and as such, they need to be able to maximize the usability of the fields that they do have access to. One way of doing this, they claim, is to install synthetic turf on one of the fields.

The league was spurred to speculate on the viability of synthetic turf because one of their fields, on privately owned space, could potentially be removed if the company that owns the land, YMCA, proceeds with a planned construction project. The league uses the field planned for removal at night and on the weekends for practicing. Losing access to this field would severely hurt the league's health and morale, and hurt the players' enjoyment and potential for more competitive play.

The league says that installing synthetic turf in the public field they have access to would dramatically increase the amount of playing time they have, and that this way the closure of the privately owned field wouldn't affect them. The field currently closes 60 to 90 days of the year because of weather or maintenance, but wouldn't have to be closed at all if synthetic turf were to be installed because synthetic turf causes no mud and requires minimal maintenance.

A Board of Education in Bloomfield, CT, has voted on and approved the installation of synthetic turf at a local high school. The synthetic turf will give the teams a safer, better-draining. The project will cost $1.24 million and includes resurfacing the running track and repairing a retaining wall. Some members argued that synthetic turf has been connected with carcinogens, and that should be a cause of worry. The chairman of the board of education countered that there are no carcinogenic concerns, and that he would put those criticism to rest with a presentation explaining why synthetic turf is safe at the town council meeting in April. He also stated that the synthetic turf surface would allow the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity teams, along with soccer teams and a youth football league to all use the field with equal access.

Another school district in Williamsville, NY, will vote on installing synthetic turf on May 19. The synthetic turf field if approved, would be played on by soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, baseball, and football teams. The project if approved would cost $22.4 million and would include other renovations.

Synthetic turf truly is becoming highly popular among high school sports fields.

A high school in Lee County has benefitted enormously from the installation of synthetic turf in their sports field. The field is used by all of the school's sports teams and other clubs. The synthetic turf has been installed since last summer, and it is a big hit among the coaches and the students.

The football coach says that they never miss practices anymore, and that the field is great to look at no matter what the weather is like. Even after heavy rain, the football team can still practice on the synthetic turf with no mud. Furthermore, he also has observed a marked decrease in the amount of injuries his players have sustained since installing the synthetic turf because there have been no divots or ruts.

The football coach also said that teams from different levels and sports can play on the synthetic turf field consecutively one after the other and it won't have any effect on the field, whereas this type of non-stop activity would damage the field if natural grass were installed.

The soccer coach says that the synthetic turf surface has helped his team remain competitive. More than half the teams in their region have synthetic turf installed, so any teams that don't have it are at a significant disadvantage.

Artificial turf is coming to Rio. Artificial turf is quickly becoming recognized for its enormous benefits and the profitability it yields. In fact, it has become so ubiquitous that it will be installed at the next Olympic games. And not just at the Olympic games, but in the stadium that will host the games' field hockey competitions. Usually artificial turf is installed in soccer and football fields, now it's spread to field hockey.

The company developing the artificial turf for the Olympic games in Rio is designing one which is durable, very low maintenance, and customized for use by the best athletes in the world. The artificial turf will provide a uniform surface that won't shift or need intervals for maintenance and repair, being usable day in and day out, which would have been impossible with natural turf.

Even after the Olympic games end, the stadium's artificial turf will be very beneficial for the entire community. The artificial turf will bring people from out of town, who in turn will spend money locally, will support physical activities, will create a sense of unity among the community, and will allow the community to save money on unnecessary maintenance costs.

A park in Petaluma, CA, will be getting a new synthetic turf surface. The park will have three synthetic turf fields. Following the installation of synthetic turf in the fields in the park, two high schools will also have synthetic turf installed in their fields. Parents have voiced their concerns about the safety of the synthetic turf surfaces. The main concerns are with bacterial infections, heat conduction, physical injuries, and crumb rubber infill.

One parent says that her son got a staph infection after scraping his elbow on synthetic turf at a field in Berkeley during a summer camp. Experts say however that athletes are more likely to get a staph infection from the locker room than on a synthetic turf field surface. However, they advise that the field be bleached and cleaned properly regularly.

Regarding crumb rubber, officials are considering alternative infill materials such as organic cork or coconut. Crumb rubber has come under attack because of purported adverse health effects.

Regarding injuries experts say that injuries aren't higher due to the synthetic turf but due to the cleats athletes are using. The taller cleats put athletes at a higher risk of injury than shorter cleats.

Bishop Manogue High School in Nevada has gotten its very own artificial turf field and it's a big hit among the players and coach. The coach has wanted to install artificial turf for many years now but the school never had enough financing to fund it. The project cost a quarter of a million dollars, but that loss will be recouped by the savings they make in water and maintenance.

The coach says that the decision to install artificial turf in the field was primarily because of the weather. During the spring, it's really wet all the time and storms occur a lot. He says that the crew used to spend hours upon hours fixing the plate and baselines and the pitching mound, just to get enough practice time in. Now, with artificial turf, they can play endlessly without having to maintain the field. It's even ready for tournament play.

The artificial turf field is so effective the coach says that it can storm heavily, and the artificial turf field is already to be played on an hour later.

The players even enjoy it. The team's shortstop says that there are no bad hops with artificial turf.

Now is the time to install a synthetic grass lawn. Synthetic grass lawns save a ton of water, and allow you to keep a beautiful lawn year round with none of the maintenance. This is the perfect solution if you live in a drought area, especially in California.

Gov. Jerry Brown just announced an executive order to the state of California to reduce water consumption by 25%. The order applies to the state's 400 water supply agencies, which supply water to 90% of California's residents. The order will affect homeowners mostly, homeowners lawns to be exact. Watering of lawns and gardens is the primary source of water overuse in the state. Water overusers will be fined, water conservers will be rewarded.

In addition to the 25% water reduction directive, the state will replace 50 million acres of ornamental turf with drought tolerant landscape, perhaps artificial turf.

The chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board said that the restrictions are intended to target watering of lawns and gardens.

Like stated above, don't fret if you would like to retain your lawn and reduce water usage. Install synthetic grass in your lawn and you'll eliminate lawn watering and still have a beautifully green lawn year round.

If you're a landscape contractor, landscape manager, lawn care contractor, or gardener, and have been considering diversifying your services by adding artificial grass installation to your services, now is the time to seriously consider it. Governor Jerry Brown has mandated that California cut back its water use by 25%. This is the biggest cutback in the entire history of the state.

The state is also directed to replace 50 million square feet of ornamental turf with drought tolerant alternatives. Also, the order instructs cities to no longer water street medians.

As a result, one landscape management company owner says that the artificial grass component of his business is experiencing a huge boom right now. He bought artificial grass installation company in 2010 but didn't know how great the business would grow. He says he feels like a genius right now. However, some of his affluent clients are still hesitant to convert to artificial grass because of their prejudices.

Indeed, add artificial grass installation to your company's list of services and you stand to make a fortune, especially if you live in California. If it begins as an auxiliary service in support of the company's other primary services, it could grow to become the company's main service.

After Governor Jerry Brown's announcement last week that California is mandated to reduce water consumption by 25%, artificial grass is quickly becoming the surface material of choice. Indeed, watering your lawn every day is a thing of the past, as Governor Brown stated last week, but having a nice green lawn isn't - with artificial grass installed.

One Orange County resident and her mother have been living in their home for 60 years. Their yard has been natural grass the entire time. But now, she and her mother are saying that artificial grass is the yard surfacing of the future, and that they will consider installing artificial grass if their current yard proves to be untenable. They won't however go so far as to install xeriscaping because she says that having access to an expansive lawn to play on is important to her family and her kids.

The California Water Resources Control Board is scheduled to release in two weeks its proposal for how they will achieve a 25% reduction. The water reduction is targeted at homeowners who waste water irrigating their lawn. The reductions are to go into effect on June 1, 2015.

A Canadian homeowner is fighting the town he lives in over his artificial grass installation. He installed the artificial grass in his yard in 2013. Thereafter the town began to receive complaints from neighbors and residents about the artificial grass, which violates the town's policy that all residential landscaping has to be done with organic materials.

The town sent an inspector the house to confirm the complaints and then took legal action against the homeowner and won. The homeowner was ordered to replace the synthetic grass with organic material. Now the homeowner has appealed to a superior court. The town says that since the artificial grass is explicitly prohibited, they have no recourse but to enforce the law.

The homeowner, however, claims that the town is guilty of an unjust act. Namely he cited the fact that while the town has chosen to attack him and his artificial grass, they have chosen to ignore the installation of artificial grass in a nearby soccer field. The implication is that the town has a bias that is willing to tolerate transgressions in some categories but punishes them in others.

Artificial grass is certainly becoming the next standard lawn surfacing material in San Diego. According to a report, San Diego's February water usage was amongst its lowest ever for the month. This month the city will take even further measure to reduce water consumption. One of them is more robust incentives for installing artificial grass.

The incentive program will reward homeowners who replace their natural grass landscapes with drought tolerant alternatives like artificial grass. Residents will receive $1.50 per square foot they replace, and then they can combine this amount with statewide incentive programs of $2 per square foot for a total of $3.5 per square foot in savings.

The director of the city's Public Utilities Program also said that they will be increasing enforcement of the new regulations that went into effect in November. These include only watering lawns three days a week, serving no water at restaurants by default, and giving hotel guests the option of not washing the linens daily. The city has around 200 violations they think deserve to be punished with a fine, which fines they will issue starting now, and the fines range from $100 to $500.

Can't think of a better time to install artificial grass. Installing artificial grass will save water and help you avoid fines. Artificial grass is indeed the lawn surface of the future.

The city of Sacramento has had a ban on artificial grass in front yards since 1984. Back then artificial grass looked tacky, but now the technologies are so state of the art that you can't tell the difference between them and real grass. Plus artificial grass saves water. Now there's no reason for artificial grass to be banned anymore. For this reason, city officials say they aren't even enforcing the ban anymore.

"Currently artificial turf is prohibited by ordinance, however, given the current drought situation, it's not being actively enforced," Sacramento District 4 Director Consuelo Hernandez said. "Residents are not required to have live turf in their front yard under city code, but if they want to deviate they can put in half concrete or rock or paver-type materials and half live vegetation such as shrubs, plants, trees. Again, if they install artificial turf in the front yard, which at this point there have only been a few homes doing this the last couple years, code is not being enforced."

Indeed, as more people become aware of the benefits of artificial grass and how realistic new technologies look, it will quickly become accepted as a standard lawn surfacing material.