SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/32290
If you have asphalt or concrete parking lots, plant several large canopy trees within the parking lot island for shade. Signage can have wording about providing shading for a cooling effect for hot impervious sur- faces from the sun’s radiation. You do not need multiple signs; one sign can sum your entire environmental pro- gram in a bullet-point format. PRACTICE FIELD AREAS: • Unused lawn areas that serve no pur- pose around your practice facilities can be turned into a forestation. • Install buffer strips off all four sides of the field for slowing down sheet water movement. • Catalog all the native plants from your meadows and show them through signage throughout your practice facility. • Document any nesting or residential wildlife and showcase through signage. • Highlight and bring attention to any large trees that might be the largest on state record. • Show through signage your organic fertilizer program. • Show how many pounds or gallons of pesticides you have eliminated. • Show through signage if you’re using VOC-free marking paints. • Show through signage if you’re using disease- and pest-resistant turfgrass. You do not need multiple signs; one sign can sum your entire environmental pro- gram in bullet point format. STADIUM FIELD/PRACTICE AND INTRAMURAL FIELDS Dr. Keith Karnok, Dr. Gil Landry, and Timothy R. Murphy from the University of Georgia, and Dr. Bert McCarty from Clemson University, wrote a piece on the environmental benefits of turfgrass for the Sports Turfgrass Management Course Cer- tificate Program that I would to like elabo- rate on a little. I would highly recommend this course! Air Purification. Healthy turfgrass and moderated field conditions can have be- tween 40 million and 10 billion turfgrass shoots for a standard football, soccer or lacrosse field. The turfgrass shoots are very good at trapping dust, dirt and other pollu- tants that can be potentially harmful for human health. Hundreds of pounds of sul- fur dioxide can be absorbed throughout the year, helping to reduce levels of ozone, hy- drogen fluoride and peroxylacetyl nitrate (PAN) to promote cleaner air. In fact, some species of turfgrass are known to absorb car- bon monoxide. Turfgrass can aid in filtering huge amounts of air pollutants found in urban areas from homes, cars and factories. Global Warming’s Arch Enemy. Turfgrass requires and absorbs carbon dioxide and www.stma.org SportsTurf 25