S.A.L.T. of the Earth House LandscapeS.A.L.T. of the Earth House Landscape
Something strange is happening at Earth House. Areas of lawn are disappearing, students wielding shovels have been spotted, and the grounds crew steers their riding lawn mowers away. There should be nothing strange at all about students taking an active and responsible role in their environment. The work at Earth House though speaks not of the accomplishments of students, but of a tradition here of an ethical relationship to the land.
S.A.L.T., or "Smaller American Lawns Today" is not a new concept.
The ideas of S.A.L.T. are not unfamiliar to anyone not able or willing to
keep up with the Jones' when it comes to maintaining monoculture against
nature's own tendency towards bio-diversity. A growing number of home-owners
are approaching their own land with an eye for ecology rather than with
ingrained notions from the commercial economy. The American lawn today is
an industry supported, not by necessity, but through our own luxury. The
American lawn has been called a botanical absurdity, a living fossil in
a modern human zoo.
S.A.L.T. originates from citizens at Connecticut
College and its scope is nation wide. The focus on the reduction of lawn
size is based not in aesthetic consideration, nor is its intent to proliferate
a single idea of land management for everyone. Rather, the transition to
more ecologically sound home grounds is born of necessity as one aspect
of the burgeoning of a sustainable American economy. Our focus is environmental
but sustainability must become universal. By reducing lawn size the American
home owner can reduce pesticide usage, free up precious fertilizer for use
in agriculture, curtail the pollution produced by burning fossil fuels,
and support wildlife habitats. The challenge S.A.L.T presents to Connecticut
College as a supposed environmental model is to take a lead as a community
on issues of concern to its citizens.
The idea is not to construct a landscape from scratch..
In supporting a sustainable home grounds it is not necessary to spend money!
Most of the beneficial species are there, trying too emerge but unable to
compete with the thick mat of a lawn or the aggressive growth of invasive
exotic species. It is as stewards of the land that we should promote an
environment able to maintain itself. By reducing the lawn size and by planting
native, you bring sustainability to the landscape.
S.A.L.T. has a particular interest to the members
of Earth House, the environmental model within the environmental model of
Connecticut College. Our method consists of practices not uncommon among
many home owners, but scarce at Connecticut College: Salvaging discarded
material, composting organic matter, responsibly collecting seed locally,
building areas of shrub plantings or meadow for example. Sit long enough
on the porch at Earth House and in between the thunder of traffic along
route 32 you may be able to have a conversation. Look past the stream of
cars and you may catch a glimpse of the Thames; past the artifice of the
American Lawn towards a culture in balance with a natural economy.
For more information about S.A.L.T. you can stop
by the Arboretum or Botany offices, or, you can go to the Arboretum web
page for a link to S.A.L.T. Or, stop by Earth House to see an environmental
model in progress.
, The Residents of Earth House