All the while, little if any attention was ever paid to the consequences of the chemical-intensive methods used to make them that way. Now, though, yard and landscaping companies are realizing that going green and saving green are not mutually exclusive. Both can be achieved without sacrificing the most important green of all: that of the soft grass beneath one's feet.
Why Go Organic?
Brittany Phillips has a unique way of describing the process of treating a new customer's lawn. It's like treating a drug addict, she explains with a nervous chuckle. When you take the drugs away-chemicals, in this case-there's a detox period where everything looks really bad for a while.
Phillips is the co-owner, along with Beth Stavru, of Stone Blossom Landscape & Design in Hopkinton. Since launching in 2007, the company has grown exponentially, nearly quadrupling its staff from the two-person team of Phillips and Stavru to a crew of seven in less than four years.
Initially the company focused almost exclusively on landscape construction and fine gardening. But after taking a five-day Northeastern Organic Farming Association seminar in 2009, Phillips found herself increasingly drawn to a niche that she had long avoided: lawn care.
It wasn't until I started looking into how people traditionally treat their lawns that I realized how bad some of the stuff really was, Phillips says. It became a sort of philosophical epiphany for me, and that's how we got into lawn care.
Phillips preaches that, in order to get a lawn that is both organic and beautiful, treating the soil is paramount. More specifically, that means incorporating compost teas-a mixture produced by aerating organic materials placed in a mesh bag and then into cold water to extract the organisms needed to be applied-into a lawn accustomed to harsher, more harmful chemicals. In doing so, you're changing what Phillips calls the soil biology for the better. The more we try to control our lawns through chemicals, the more out of hand it gets. But the more you feed into its natural tendencies, the healthier and more regenerative it's going to be, she says.
Transitioning From Chemical
Tom Kelly, owner of the Auburn-based Fire Belly Organic Lawn Care, knows a little something about greenwashing. As the one-time owner of a large regional lawn care company for more then 20 years, Kelly became disillusioned with his industry's habit of masking with a green faade what were, in essence, the same old chemical-dependent methods. A lot of companies stake their claim on green nowadays because that's what sells, Kelly says. But when there's nothing to back it up, you start questioning why you're in the business.
After selling his stake in his previous company, Kelly spent the next few years researching methods common in the world of organic agriculture. What he found w as that many of the same techniques-most of which involve treating the soil with certain kinds of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms-could also be applied to lawn care.
Like industry giant Scotts' four-step lawn care program, Fire Belly offers their own six-step Organic Lawn in a Box. The first application involves what's known as a microbial soil conditioner, which is designed to feed the turf and stimulate the soil food web. Throughout the year, materials including kelp, humic acid, molasses, seaweed, fish emulsion, along with various strains of bacteria and fungi, are employed systematically to help further nurture the soil.
While Kelly's method is drastically different in many ways from traditional fertilizers, Organic Lawn in a Box does have one important thing in common with its chemical-laden counterpart: nitrogen. The difference lies in levels of concentration: Whereas the nitrogen in your typical fertilizer is chemically derived, the nitrogen in Kelly's products comes from natural sources. What's more, it remains price-competitive with traditional methods as it is a liquid concentrate and is less bulky and cheaper to harvest and produce.
What we've done with our different bacterial and biological strains is to basically take what farmers have been using for years, and apply it to lawn care, says Kelly about his agriculture-inspired products. Now we've gotten it down to be price-competitive with most chemical programs. So what we've seen is that improved technology, combined with growing demand, has made truly organic methods so much more affordable. All without affecting his business' bottom line. Indeed, Kelly expects his young business to double in growth by the end of its second year.
Brian Wade, who launched Rollinsford-based Wade Landscaping in 2005, has also seen firsthand that adopting sustainability-minded measures isn't just popular with customers; it's easier on his own bottom line as well. I went pretty quickly from me and a partner to a staff of three and then a staff of seven, so I had to figure out ways to save on labor wherever I could, explains Wade. It started with the no-idling policy, and grew from there to include a lot of our services, especially the hauling. Wade uses 100 percent organic hydro-seeds, and extensively composts and recycles clippings and mulch, often reusing them in later jobs.
Additionally, the company has adopted a 100 percent paperless billing system, uses fuel efficient vehicles for onsite estimates, and does some estimates via computer maps to save on travel altogether.
Our customers have learned that by going organic and taking steps to lessen their carbon footprint, that makes a huge difference, Wade says. They reap the benefits of reusing the compost they create on their own property, and they're saving a lot of money doing it.
Salvaging as a Means to Green
Like Wade, Adam Bennett, owner of Colonial Stoneworks in Windham, likes to show customers the green potential-and savings-right in their own back yards. Colonial offers services ranging from walkways and stairways to fireplaces and property-spanning walls with a heavy emphasis on reclaimed and recycled materials. In fact, Bennett will often source the stone for his clients' projects literally right from their backyard.
I did a wall a couple years ago on a Windham residence that had just bought a lot behind them that led up to the water, and there was this huge piece of exposed ledge, recalls Bennett. So we picked it apart and collected everything that had broken off and used a lot of that for the project. For Bennett, the calculus is simple: Why pay for expensive pallets of stone from quarries as far afield as Pennsylvania-only to pay more for the shipping and unloading-when there's plenty of high quality, native materials ready for the taking? According to Bennett, not only is scavenging for local materials less expensive in general; it's also far less energy intensive. Such efforts allow him to be price competitive.
And that's just the beginning of Colonial's green initiatives. Whether it's running his machinery on vegetable oil made by a neighbor; installing his own onsite 500-gallon biodiesel storage tank; performing weekly service and maintenance on all equipment; or using a paperless billing process, Bennett has succeeded in reducing waste in just about every respect.
The Bottom Line
As demand rises, prices of green options and approaches continue to fall in line with those of chemical or energy-intensive competitors. However, there are considerations beyond cost that are making green options more popular. While Brittany Phillips doesn't skirt the fact that her products and services might cost a little more up front, she flatly denies that they're more expensive over the long haul.
The reason more conventional products are cheaper is because they use cheaper ingredients, like urea for instance, explains Phillips, referring to one of the chief nitrogen-containing substances used in traditional lawn care methods. It's the difference between me going to McDonald's for a burger and going to the local restaurant for the grass-fed option. Maybe the organic option costs a little more, but if it makes your lawn or your health more sustainable, those financial costs go down incrementally every year. No matter how you want to look at it, ultimately you're saving a lot.
Jim Cavan is director of media and public relations for The Green Alliance, a green business union based in Portsmouth. He can be reached at 603-817-4694 or info@greenalliance.biz.