Green Tea Fertilizer On Harvard Yard

Harvard has decided that green is the new crimson. They have signs all over campus. Naturally, that means the Harvard lawn had to go green as well. Obviously not the color green, because it definitely was that color with fertilizers… but Harvard wanted to make their luscious yard of grass environmentally friendly. Many argue that grass fields can never be environmentally friendly due to the large amount of water needed to keep the grass green…but if Harvard is going to have an environmentally friendly grass lawn, they did an excellent job of it.

How? Well, first of all, they switched to an organic fertilizer made partially of green tea. Yes, green tea. Surprising, huh? Landscape services figured out the biology of the soil by testing it so that it could figure out the right organic matter that would feed the soil most effectively. That way the grass would be healthy and enriched to grow.

According to Wayne Carbone, of landscape services for Harvard University,”No. 1 benefit is we’ve been able to eliminate all synthetic fertilizers and harmful chemicals. No. 2, we’ve seen a reduction in water usage, which we think is very important.”

The Harvard Landscape Services has actually reduced irrigation by 30% during this process of going environmentally friendly with the Harvard Yard. That 30% means around 2 million gallons of water a year. Wow. Of course… that still means they are using over 5 million gallons of water a year for irrigation… which is still a lot for a yard. Still better than before, I guess…

If you enjoyed this post consider subscribing to our feed, following us on twitter, and also signing up for our Weekly Green Tips email newsletter.

Related posts:

1. Publix to increase recycling via composting While I was surfing around reading about the latest green...
2. Green Tips For Rainy Days Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips...
3. Green Tips for Your Shower Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips...
4. Organic Vodka On the Prairie We have talked about other green alchoholic beverages before,...
5. Green Tips for Easter Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips...