EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S TURF Defining the New Normal
Casey Reynolds, PhD
I’m currently working with TPI members on a couple of local items impacting our industry and I’ve heard and read more than once recently the phrase “the new normal.” I’ve encountered this term before and have never given it much thought. I honestly assumed it was coined during or soon after the Covid-19 pandemic simply because that’s when I first recall hearing it. In fact, though, it was apparently first used in response to the 2007-08 financial crisis and has since been retroactively applied to other impactful trends or events. So, why am I hearing this term more now and what does it have to do with the Turf News Executive Director’s message?
In the last twelve months, I have been working with TPI members in two statewide green industry associations (nursery, landscapes, golf, sod, etc.) whose stated objectives for 2024 and beyond are among other things, “to normalize artificial turf.” I don’t mean to be theatrical, but let’s pause for a second a let that sink in… Green industry associations with a stated objective to normalize plastic, synthetic turf.
Green industry associations have historically relied on nursery growers, landscapers, sod producers, and others who produce green plants. Living, breathing, green plants that provide the many countless benefits that we all know and love. Would a nursery and landscape association have as one of its stated policy objectives to normalize plastic trees? Plastic shrubs like we see at doctor’s offices? Plastic flowers? Likely not... So why plastic turf?
I have my guesses, but you’d really have to just ask them. And if you are thinking this is happening in California, Nevada, or Arizona—it’s not. Tese particular instances are happening in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. in states that get 40 to 60 inches of annual rainfall where there is absolutely no need for plastic turf in most landscapes.
So, is walking trade show floors at state nursery and landscape conferences and seeing plastic turf our industry’s new normal? If so, is there anything we can do about it? We can remind consumers, associations, and others that our industry also has a new normal. New varieties that require less inputs, new irrigation technologies, new research on the environmental benefits of natural grass, new research on the impacts of forever plastics (PFAS), and so on. We have a natural product that research shows consumers and athletes overwhelmingly prefer. We just need to get out and shout it from the rooftops for everyone to hear.
In closing, I know many of you reading this are passionate supporters of natural grass, just like me. I’m here, ready, and willing to help tell our story. I’d love to envision the new normal being one where consumers and policymakers actually understand and appreciate the value and benefits of their lawns and other green spaces. After all, we have a great story. Can we get people to hear it?
Cheers, Casey Reynolds
We have a natural product that research shows consumers and athletes overwhelmingly prefer. We just need to get out and shout it from the rooftops for everyone to hear.
Please follow us on X (formally known as Twitter), Facebook and Instagram! @TPITurfTalk @TheLawnInstitute 4
@TurfgrassProducersInternational @TheLawnInstitute
@TheLawnInstitute TPI Turf News May/June 2024
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
