Is It a Crime to Be a Conservationist?

by Tara Lohan · 2010-03-11 16:17:00 UTC
Topics:

lawn wateringThe L.A. Times recently reported that in the Southern California city of Orange, one couple is getting slapped with a potential misdemeanor violation because they removed their lawn in order to save water.

Quan and Angelina Ha recently had a child, and, concerned for the future in their drought-stricken, fire-prone area of the world, they decided to stop putting tens of thousands of gallons of water on their lawn each year.

Apparently city officials didn't find their gesture noble or forward-thinking. Instead they said it violated city laws requiring "40% of the yard be landscaped predominantly with live plants," reports the L.A. Times. The couple's efforts to put in native plants and wood chips apparently didn't make muster.

Depending on where you live in California, it can be confusing as to what to plant and how much to water. Some areas have water restrictions and only allow you to turn those sprinklers on a few days (sometimes even hours) a week. Some communities pay residents to remove their turf; other areas, like the "red" region where the Has live, require residents to maintain lawns.

Fritz Haeg wrote the book, Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn, which has been helping people learn how to pull up all that sod and put in tasteful arrays of fruit trees, veggies and other edibles. I wonder if Haeg's garden-style yard would fly in Orange?

It's still shocking to me that so many communities — from cities to neighborhood associations — have such anti-environmental policies. I really can't think of a good reason you'd have to have a lawn when you live in a desert. Unfortunately, Orange isn't the worst, there are places that have all sorts of backwards regulations when it comes to solar panels, laundry lines, compost piles, and even vegetable gardens, as Stan Cox writes in the story, "The Property Cops: Homeowner Associations Ban Eco-Friendly Practices." Get with the times, people!

Photo credit: LancerE

Tara Lohan is a senior editor at AlterNet.org where she heads up the environment, water, and food sections. Her work has appeared on the websites of The Nation, Mother Jones, the Huffington Post and in Yes! Magazine.
PREVIOUS STORY:
U.S. Backs Ban For Bluefin Tuna Trade
NEXT STORY:
Stopping the Water Grab in Nevada

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.