A PUTTING GREEN, A DRIVING RANGE, OR JUST A WELL TRIMMED BACK YARD?

Synthetic grass is making quite an impression across America these days. You only need to Google reports on the number of high schools and colleges that are installing artificial turfs on their football and baseball fields to know that the stuff is pretty popular. Of course, the reason it’s popular is primarily to do with cost. Artificial turf is much more affordable than natural grass, not only when it comes to installation, but, perhaps even more importantly, when it comes to maintenance and use.

Imagine, if you will, a team of burly football players out practicing on a chill fall morning. They’re all thundering about on the grass, slipping and sliding about, kicking up the grass as they kick up the ball, tackle, and the like. They have spiked shoes that churn up the grass.

Then there are the golfers on the 18-hole course on a Sunday morning. They may be enjoying a friendly game, but they’re still taking swipe after swipe at the ground, hacking up the grass and the sand with their seven irons. Even the green is under attack with a steady onslaught of balls smashing down from 200 yards away.

Natural grass needs a lot of work to stay trim and fresh. Particularly on sports fields (football fields, baseball fields, tennis courses, and golf courses to name but a few), it gets pretty bruised up without regular work. It needs watering, mowing, trimming. Someone also needs to treat it with pesticides and then (and they apparently make a tradition of this in polo) someone needs to put the tufts of grass back into place.

Our point, though, is that grass has to put up with a lot of wear and tear if it is going to be used for the surface of a sports field. Not only does it not survive the usage very well, it actually requires a lot of time, money, and energy when used as the basis for a sporting activity.

If you think about it, the high maintenance required for grass is one of the reasons many people don’t use their backyards all that often. It’s also one of the reasons why most golfing enthusiasts don’t have a mini-putting green in their backyard. It’s at least the reason why the most dedicated golfers don’t find themselves outside on a regular basis, practicing their swing or their putting. Natural grass just doesn’t hold up.

Artificial grass, on the other hand, is not only durable, it is easy to maintain and easy to install. As more and more people are discovering, artificial grass works wonders as a surface for sports grounds. Not only does it survive with minimal maintenance for years (sometimes as many as fifteen years, even with heavy use), it has also been shown to reduce injuries and facilitate more regular practice and game play since it can be used in all weathers (it doesn’t get flooded or frozen provided the right drainage system is in place).

At National Greens, we specialize in providing our clients with a whole range of turf types for all sorts of types of projects. We specialize in providing turf for golf courses, putting greens, and driving ranges, however, and we’ve also taken to helping golf enthusiasts install miniature putting greens in their homes and back yards at extremely competitive prices.

Installation takes less than thirty minutes, in some cases, and you can almost always begin enjoying your artificial turf right away, which is not the case for natural grass. You don’t have to worry about hiring a gardener to maintain your artificial turf and you have no need to worry about how you’re going to manage to store up water to keep your grass hydrated through the summer (with artificial grass, you don’t have to contribute to the summer water shortage in your area since the grass doesn’t need watering at all).

You can have your very own putting green installed in your backyard or take the time to work on your golf swing even on a regular lawn. You won’t have to worry about hacking the lawn to bits when you’re swinging your club or even when you’re playing football with your friends.

Your kids will be perfectly safe as well, thanks to the soft, durable surface underneath artificial grass textures. They can bound about as much as they like and you won’t have to worry about them falling and hurting themselves.

Whatever your project, National Greens offers a whole range of turf types, you’ll see new possibilities opening up for you.

For more information about the products and services available for your residential or commercial project, contact us today via our website.

Going Green Is Not Just For Big Business-You Can Grow Profits, Too!

The world of big business is making daily headlines by “going green” after discovering that what’s good for the planet is also proving good for business.

IBM recently announced “Project Big Green,” a $1 billion initiative to reduce energy consumption by offering new lines of energy-efficient IT products.

Wal-Mart is adding solar power to more than 20 stores.

PepsiCo is buying renewable energy certificates to offset its carbon footprint. Even major banks and energy firms are being asked by shareholders to prove that they, too, are going green.

It’s not just the biggest businesses that are attracting new customers and shareholders and reaping huge profits by “going green.” Small businesses also are growing eco-profits by embracing surprisingly inexpensive strategies to add value to their products, services and brand.

Consider these innovative examples:

- Bob Smith of Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake, California, has attracted positive publicity (and new customers) by promoting his efforts to reduce his small firm’s waste output and take other environmentally conscious steps. In turn, he has received welcome positive publicity from the press. “What PR budget? That is our PR budget,” he told the Albuquerque Tribune about “going green” to market his business.

- In Florida, Natalie Kelly formed Home Therapy Cleaning Services, which uses only nontoxic, all-natural cleaning products for her home cleaning business. She used to sell aromatherapy candles from her home, she told the St. Petersburg Times, but today uses an aromatherapy baking soda blend to freshen carpets.

Here’s what you can do:

- Two inexpensive ways any small business or solo entrepreneur can go green are to change light bulbs to energy-efficient bulbs and use biodegradable cleaning products.

- With that done, tell your customers and the media about these simple ways to go green. You will have just earned instant credibility as a green business, and also as a media resource for simple, effective ways to “go green.”

- Many communities online and offline are forming networks to exchange energy-saving ideas for home and business. Form your own energy network, enlisting neighborhood businesses that will welcome another opportunity to show they’re going green, too. The plus for you is that you will have just positioned yourself and your business as a community environmental leader.

- Copy what the New York Times called “Phase 2″ of the corporate response to global warming. Partner with an environmental group. Travelocity invites customers to donate an extra $10 to $40, which goes to the Conservation Fund to plant trees to offset the carbon used by a client to take a trip. Whole Foods invites customers to buy a $5 “wind power card” that goes to Renewable Choice Energy to build wind farms. What local environmental group can you partner with to promote on your Web site (and vice versa), to set aside a day that a percentage of profits will go to that organization or to make their fliers available at your business?

- Make use of readily available, free information to hand out with your business literature or to make available in your office. For example, create a one-page flier on your letterhead inviting clients to calculate their own carbon footprint by visiting http://multimedia.wri.org/safeclimate_calculator.cfm.

- Go deeper green! Attend a “green” conference in your community or region, and promote your attendance. (Go to Google.com and type in “green” and “conference” and your area to find out when and where they are scheduled.) Write a “green” article on simple ways you are going green and submit it to one of the dozens of “green” Web sites and blogs that invite reader contributions. It’s a great way to market your smart ideas and your business!