Red Tide Institutes And Red Tide Studies Are Not The Answer To Red Tide

    There was a news story recently regarding a million dollar grant provided to a new institute that will be funded to research red tide. It is well known that red tide is a natural occuring event made much worse by fertilizer runoff. The main sources of the fertilizers that pours into the Gulf of Mexico are from agricultural runoff. But lawns are also a major source of fertilizer, pesticide and other harmful contaminants that end up in the Gulf of Mexico and other bodies of water. All of these fertilizers are putting red tide on steroids.

     Dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, shorebirds, fish, invertebrates and more have been killed by red tide. Red tide is harmful to humans. It is hurting florida's economy.

     That million dollars would be put to far better use by simply getting people to change their lawns. By letting lawns go natural, by growing native plants and other environmentally beneficial trees and shrubbery, not only would red tide be reduced, but there would be a number of other benefits.

      Instead, people would rather study a problem than do the challenging work of changing the dynamics contributing to the problem. The flow of water contaminated with agricultural fertilizers and waste must change. But the most immediate thing individuals can do is simply give up on the English model of green grass - which requires enormous water resources, fertilizers and harmful chemicals - and embrace native lawns and beneficial plants and trees that contribute to environmental health and that do not contaminate the Gulf of Mexico and other bodies of water.

      People cannot have it all. It cannot be business as usual if a healthy Gulf of Mexico is to survive. Changing the nature of landscaping and lawns will open the door to a massive new industry. Biodiversity will increase. There will be more birds and more beneficial insects, including bees, butterflies and more. Red tide will be reduced. Natural lawns with native plants and grasses, beneficial trees and shrubs, will help restore bodies of water and improve the environment in general not just in the Gulf of Mexico, but everywhere they are planted.