People are coming up with ways they can do their bit to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle - or at least they should. There are lots of ways we can improve our carbon emissions output because nearly every single choice we make in our day to day life has some sort of consequence on our carbon footprint.

A possible area of change may be in your own backyard, literally. It's not a surprising fact that the lawns of most homeowners are made of natural grass, but the case can be made to replace that living lawn with a synthetic grass alternative.

There are some factors to consider about what goes into maintaining a lush, green lawn:

- Healthy, green, well-grassed lawns require regular watering.
- Lawns need weed killers, pesticides and fertilizers.
- Natural grass needs to be mowed regularly with the lawnmower
- It costs money to maintain a lush, green lawn.

Now replacing your lawn with a synthetic grass equal addresses each of these environmental issues. Trickling chemicals into the ground will have a cumulative effect on the ecosystem with the chemicals leeching away into our water systems. At a time when water is tightly controlled in many places, using it to water our grass is essentially a a luxury we can't afford.

Another factor to take into consideration is the elderly. As you get older your ability to maintain the lawn will dissipate as will your access to money to pay for the upkeep. The answer could very well be to replace the grass with synthetic grass.

If you live in areas that suffers drought, you will have experienced water restrictions the likes of which haven't been felt before. The first thing to suffer during such critical times is the grass which quickly goes brown and dies off. In extreme circumstances the soil is compacted, the grass disappears forever and you're left with a yard that has turned into a dust bowl.

There are many advantages to using synthetic grass such as the need for watering is removed, the low maintenance aspect, wear and tear no longer becomes an issue, it looks good all year round and it's better for the environment because it removes the need for chemical application and a lawnmower.

The growth rate of grass in summer is so great that your lawn needs cutting once a week as the lawn takes off and grows like at no other time. Cutting the grass every week is just another source of carbon being added to the atmosphere, no matter whether you own a petrol powered lawnmower or an electric lawnmower.

Changing from real grass to synthetic grass will make a big reduction in your carbon footprint and will be helping to do your bit for saving the environment. Artificial grass will benefit the environment at an increasing rate over time, too, with every atom of chemical that hasn't been poured, every drop of water saved and every second the lawnmower hasn't had to run. The result puts the environment in an even better position than it otherwise would be.

Isn't it a nice bonus that over the long term you will also be saving yourself quite a lot of money.