Turf not as 'green' as it looks

Fields of plastic, or fake turf, are spreading across the Golden State from San Diego to Del Norte counties.

- BY SUSANNE RUST

MICHAEL OWEN BAKER For The Times DOS PUEBLOS players stretch on artificial turf before a flag football game held at Oxnard High School.

Some municipalities and school districts embrace them, saying they are good for the environment and promote kids’ activity and health. But some cities, including Los Angeles, are considering banning the fields - citing concerns about children’s health and the environment.

Nowhere in the country is turf use growing faster than in California - on school athletic fields, in city parks and on residential lawns. Exact numbers are not known, but it’s estimated that 1,100 acres of the material, or the equivalent of some 870 football fields, are being installed across the state each year.

In 2025, the Laguna Beach Unified School District and the San Mateo County Office of Education both received environmental accolades from the state Department of Education for, among other efforts, installing artificial turf.

"The fields do not require water, pesticides or fertilizers. They also provide year-round playing time without the need for closures for regrowth or rain damage," said Laura Chalkley, director of communications for San Mateo Union High School District.

But a growing number of health experts, environmentalists and parents say the fields are harming children's health and heating up the environment — and they're pushing their cities, counties and school districts to ban them.

Terry Saucier, a Tarzana resident and chair of the So-Cal Stop Artificial Turf Task Force, wants Los Angeles to do that.

“I wish they'd stop calling it grass,” Saucier said. “It’s carpet. They’re taking green space, grass and dirt away from kids and laying down synthetic carpets.”