NewGrass Works With Schools to Save Resources and Money on Fields and Playgrounds

School budgets are tight across the country and schools are doing all they can to save money. One item being reexamined is the cost for maintenance and care of playgrounds and athletic fields. Traditional surfaces like grass might not always be the best approach for a variety of options, and turning to other solutions like synthetic grass from NewGrass may be a surprisingly good option to consider.  

NewGrass synthetic grass is made with renewable and recycled resources, making it totally recyclable and designed to look and feel like natural grass. NewGrass provides a highly durable outdoor surface that lasts for many years, and is already being used in many schools, backyards, parks, and other locations.    One problem with natural turf is the maintenance required. Grass playing fields require mowing, fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides, and watering, all of which adds up to significant costs. In areas with harsh weather or heavy use, the playing field doesn’t always hold up well, leaving mud or bare dirt. Sand or wood chips used in playgrounds have their own drawbacks, including their potential use as giant kitty litter boxes by legions of local cats.    It might be surprising to many that artificial turf can be a green alternative to natural grass, but when folks like CarbonFund looked at NewGrass they found that it offers some real environmental advantages. The consumption of water and pesticides is eliminated with NewGrass, providing significant financial savings as well as environmental benefits. The estimated return on investment (ROI) for installation of NewGrass is 3.7 years according to the company, and over the years the savings will continue as long as the turf does.   Another advantage of NewGrass is safety. Schools are working hard to reduce student injuries, but they are still common on the athletic field and on the playground from children falling off of play equipment, often onto bare earth. NewGrass provides an infill or shock system made from recycled material such as recycled shoes from Nike. This absorbs most of the impact, providing significant protection for children and helping to reduce school injuries. Backyard play equipment can benefit from the same protection with NewGrass.   “NewGrass is an eco-friendly, natural-looking and incredibly safe alternative to any other kind of surface under play sets or equipment,” says Greg Goehner, President of NewGrass. “It eliminates the kind of injuries a child can suffer from a fall on gravel, sand or dirt. “We’re also very big on the fact that NewGrass® is tested lead-safe.”   NewGrass was shown at the NAIS Annual Conference Feb 23-25 in Washington, DC, and has been approved by National Purchasing Partners (www.myNPP.com) for school installations. See for yourself at meetings like this, at local sites where it is installed, from a local dealer, or by going to their website.   http://newgrass.com/ http://facebook.com/newgrass   Glenn Croston is the author of "75 Green Businesses" and "Starting Green", helping businesses to start green and grow greener at Starting Up Green.

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