America's biggest crop is not what you think

Grass is actually the biggest crop in the United States.It's everywhereon our lawns, peaking around the side of streets, blanketing golf courses.A study, published in the journal Environmental Management, found that over 40 million acres of land in the continental US has some form of lawn on it.That's three times more than corn, or any other irrigated crop, the researchers wrote.You can see just how much space grass takes up in this map they produced using NASA satellites and aerial photos:The ubiquity of turf grasses is both good and bad.Since they are a plant, grasses can suck up some of the carbon in the atmosphere, acting as what scientists call a "carbon sink" that can help mitigate climate change.But we disproportionately treat our grasses with environmentally harmful chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides. Golf courses typically use between 100,000 and 1 million gallons of water per week in the summer, according to the Alliance for Water Efficiency.The study authors suggest people use their grass clippings as fertilizer instead of throwing them away to decrease the amount of chemicals we use.We also use tons of water to irrigate grassoutside water makes up to three-quarters of residential water use, according to the study.The authors recommend that people start watering their grass with waste water instead of valuable drinking water to cut down on the incredible amount of drinking water not used for drinking.Furthermore, if we replaced our lawns with plants naturally occurring where we live, or allowed them to go "wild," we could significantly cut down on the amount of water we waste on grass.It could save you money, tooAmericans spend about $30 billion on lawn care every year.Grasses take up a huge amount of American land, and if we make a few small changes, we could use that land to sequester some of the carbon we've pumped into the atmosphere.Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: The Drone Revolution Is Coming To America's 2 Million Farms
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