Why Lawns Must Die

Why lawns must die, explained. Support OCC and get 20+ bonus, ad-free videos by signing up for Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/occ/ Watch the extended version of this video here: https://nebula.tv/videos/our-changing... In this Our Changing Climate climate change video essay, I look at why the American lawn must die. Specifically, I look at the grass lawn's history of class exploitation and settler colonialism and how that ties into the American lawn culture we see today. The lawn began in Europe as an elite status symbol that was tended and mowed by peasants freshly forced into wage labor through the enclosure of the commons. The turfgrass lawn was then exported to colonial America where it was used as a tool to terraform indigenous land. And in the post-WWII suburban boom, the lawn soon became a symbol of white conformity. The turfgrass lawn though has a huge environmental impact. It's the biggest crop in the United States by area and requires a massive amount of fossil fuels, fertilizer, and chemicals to upkeep. Even if you don't want to tend to your lawn, some towns require you, with the threat of jail time to mow the grass. Ultimately, the grass lawn is a tool of capitalist settler colonialism that is exacerbating climate change and the climate crisis. Help me make more videos like this via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OurChangingCl... Email List: https://ourchangingclimateocc.substac... Twitter: https://twitter.com/OurClimateNow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/occvideos/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/occ.climate/ Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/OurChangingClimate/ Check out other Climate YouTubers: Climate in Colour:    / @climateincolour1273   zentouro:    / zentouro   Climate Adam:    / climateadam   Kurtis Baute:    / @scopeofscience   Levi Hildebrand:    / the100lh   Simon Clark:    / simonoxfphys   Sarah Karver:    / @sarahkarver   Sweet Soul Whisper ASMR:    / @sweetsoulwhisper...   ClimateTown:    / @climatetown   Jack Harries:    / jacksgap   Beckisphere:    / @beckisphere   All About Climate:    / @allaboutclimate   Aime Maggie:    / @aimemaggie   Just Have a Think:    / @justhaveathink   Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 0:53 - A Brief History of Lawns 4:28 - The Lawn Was (And Still Is) A Tool of Colonialism 6:01 - Lawns Are Fueling Environmental Destruction 8:07 - A Future Without Lawns 9:27 - Sponsored Message 11:32 - Outro I use Epidemic Sound for some of my music: http://epidemicsound.com/creator Some footage courtesy of Getty Images _______________________ Further Reading and Resources: https://www.notion.so/Lawn-Resources-... #Lawns #Colonialism #ClimateChange