Fake grass is greener but is it worse for the environment? Florida a new testing ground
By Ashley Miznazi | Miami Herald
August 8, 2025 at 3:05 PM EDT
More fake lawns may be coming to your neighborhood. From the front yards of West Miami-Dade to the waterfront mansions of Fort Lauderdale, artificial turf is appearing more and more.
And with the spread of artificial turf comes a mounting number of questions and criticisms — about everything from how it looks to how it impacts the environment, the climate and even human health. This stuff, made of plastic, can get absolutely skin scorching in the extreme heat of a South Florida summer.
But some homeowners still prefer it over natural, said Yoandy Perez, who has installed artificial turf at multiple homes in one East Hialeah neighborhood because they like that it looks neat year-round and saves on landscaping costs.
“The city doesn’t like concrete, but they want green,” said Perez. “Many places here are just sandy soil and construction fill. The clients prefer the turf.”
Now, a new state law has opened the multi-billion dollar artificial grass industry to what could be a big expansion, with lawmakers moving to forbid cities from banning fake grass in front yards. In Hialeah, turf is allowed with proper permits. But several South Florida cities and towns – including Coral Gables, Miami, Miami Lakes and Pembroke Pines – allow fake grass only out of sight in back or side yards.
But researchers and city governments say there are many downsides to expanding Florida’s fake grass footprint. Scientists warn that the synthetic plastic grass blades (beyond being made from petroleum) are not well suited for the warmer and wetter world the state is already experiencing from climate change. Artificial grass also can become extremely hot, doesn’t have the best drainage and isn’t easy to recycle.
Then there’s aesthetics of it. There have been years of fake vs. real disputes, including in Miami. When the real stuff along Brickell Avenue was ripped out and replaced with artificial, residents protested until the Miami officials agreed to remove the $230,160 project.
For now, despite the new law, the future of fake grass remains in a bit of a flux. This week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) started accepting public comments and working on rule-making for turf on residential properties. Coral Gables and Miami Lakes officials told the Herald they are holding off changes to their permitting process until the state releases those standards.
“Once released, the Town will compare the State’s standards with the existing Town ordinance,” said Daniel Angel, Miami Lakes’ zoning director.
Fake can feel baked
In sun-drenched places like Miami, where extreme heat warnings are common, you can often feel the difference between fake and real. Natural grass tends to cool thing off. And that’s not just what you or your dog might feel under your feet. University of Florida assistant professor Marco Schiavon, who is based in Fort Lauderdale, said widespread use of synthetic grass could contribute to even higher local temperatures.
“What surprised me was that artificial turf grass on stadiums was often, if not always, warmer than the parking lot right next to it,” Schivaon said. He said he’s measured artificial turf to be as much as 100 degrees hotter than real grass.
Earlier this week, with partly cloudy skies and the air temperature at 91 degrees, The Miami Herald conducted its own check using a infrared thermometer. The results were not quite as extreme but still striking: in many locations, artificial turf measured nearly 40 degrees hotter than natural grass.
At the dog park at Margaret Pace Park in Miami, the turf reached 150 degrees, while the grass nearby was 112. That was not the only issue. Kevin Lopez, who came with his German shepherd mix Cosmo, said, “The smell is worse on the turf, and the poop just sticks.”
Aida Curtis, a landscape architect with 40 years of local experience, said she refuses to use artificial turf in her designs because of how it absorbs heat and is a danger to children, dogs and the environment and is a “liability waiting to happen.”
“We’re already into the problem of climate change. Severe high temperatures, more rain, and rather than going back to nature, like putting grass, we’re removing a natural system to put an artificial system,” Curtis said.
Juan Jose waters the artificial turf installed in the front of his house in the East Hialeah area, where this kind of material installation is in high demand. (1140x809, AR: 1.4091470951792335)
Spraying the turf with water, common before many sports events. can cool it down but also tamps down on a benefit that the industry highlights — that it doesn’t need watering.
“You are replacing turf grass with artificial for water conservation, but then you find yourself watering a piece of plastic in order to have that piece of plastic functional, and at that point, you have lost all the environmental benefits,” said UF’s Schiavon.
READ MORE: Artificial turf contains dangerous chemicals like PFAS — and there's no way to discard it safely
A rainstorm over a Little Haiti soccer field showed the difference water can make, but it’s still hotter than the real stuff. After the storm, the artificial turf field was 120 degrees and the grass right beside it was 96 degrees – a 24-degree difference.
“You can see the heat radiating from the turf,” said Anthony Rodriguez, a 16-year-old playing for the first time at the soccer field.
But the fake grass does have one upside in a heat wave, according to the artificial turf industry. It looks good. It won’t dry up and turn patchy – its color remains pristine green.
Drainage questions
While the newer, artificial turf is designed with drainage holes, some experts say it’s still not enough for the stronger and wetter storms Miami is prone to have because of climate change.
Jason Kruse, an associate professor of turfgrass science at the University of Florida, said fake grass takes an area that would’ve been naturally permeable and reduces it’s infiltration potential.
Andy Rodriguez practices at the Little Haiti Soccer Park that is covered with artificial turf in the afternoon. (1140x760, AR: 1.5)
“Because of the rainfall that we get in Florida, we need a place for that water to go. And if we can infiltrate it into the profile, that’s better for everybody, because it gets down to the aquifer and we don’t have to deal with it in the stormwater system,” he said. “ I suspect that if we were to see more installation of synthetic turf that may result in more runoff, which could have some consequences that we’re not really thinking about at the moment.”
It’s important to note that there are different standards of turf in the industry that could be better suited for water, Kruse said. Bigger sports fields are usually evacuated and then storm drainage is added underneath in those cases, he said.
Real grass, on the other hand, helps with drainage and a healthy soil microbiome. Kruse said the roots open up pathways underground that loosen the soil undergrowth, and leave a channel water can seep through.
“You do see increased infiltration over time with these established root zones,” he said.
While synthetic turf lacks the ecological benefits of natural grass, Goodman, Perez, and others in the industry point to how it doesn’t require any pesticides or fertilizer, which drive many of the state’s water pollution problems.
But scientists told the Herald that while it eliminates fertilizer run-off, there is concern of the grass breaking down over time and contributing to micro-plastic pollution in our waterways.
Landfill-bound
Artificial grass has a lifespan of about eight to ten years, and after that, most of it goes to the landfill. Some companies specialize in artificial grass recycling, such as Artificial Grass Recyclers, but Kruse said they aren’t always regionally accessible.
“It’s not cost-effective to transport it to a location where they can recycle it. So most of these products end up in landfills at the end of life,” Kruse said.
Whatever the concerns, artificial turf does offer a quick fix to someone who wants a good looking lawn out front. One homeowner in Hialeah said he took a DIY approach to recycling old turf in his yard. Juan José explained that his son salvaged some artificial turf from a job where it was being removed, and they installed it themselves last year.
“We like how it looks much more,” he said. “We plan to get the rest of the yard done this year.”
Sean Goodman, the owner of Royal Synthetic Turf, which is based in South Florida, said lawmakers made the right call in responding to consumer demand. The restrictions by some cities hurt business because most customers want entire lawns redone, not just a piece of it.
“If the customer wants the entire house with artificial turf,” he said, “we should be able to do it.”
And with the spread of artificial turf comes a mounting number of questions and criticisms — about everything from how it looks to how it impacts the environment, the climate and even human health. This stuff, made of plastic, can get absolutely skin scorching in the extreme heat of a South Florida summer.
But some homeowners still prefer it over natural, said Yoandy Perez, who has installed artificial turf at multiple homes in one East Hialeah neighborhood because they like that it looks neat year-round and saves on landscaping costs.
“The city doesn’t like concrete, but they want green,” said Perez. “Many places here are just sandy soil and construction fill. The clients prefer the turf.”
Now, a new state law has opened the multi-billion dollar artificial grass industry to what could be a big expansion, with lawmakers moving to forbid cities from banning fake grass in front yards. In Hialeah, turf is allowed with proper permits. But several South Florida cities and towns – including Coral Gables, Miami, Miami Lakes and Pembroke Pines – allow fake grass only out of sight in back or side yards.
But researchers and city governments say there are many downsides to expanding Florida’s fake grass footprint. Scientists warn that the synthetic plastic grass blades (beyond being made from petroleum) are not well suited for the warmer and wetter world the state is already experiencing from climate change. Artificial grass also can become extremely hot, doesn’t have the best drainage and isn’t easy to recycle.
Then there’s aesthetics of it. There have been years of fake vs. real disputes, including in Miami. When the real stuff along Brickell Avenue was ripped out and replaced with artificial, residents protested until the Miami officials agreed to remove the $230,160 project.
For now, despite the new law, the future of fake grass remains in a bit of a flux. This week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) started accepting public comments and working on rule-making for turf on residential properties. Coral Gables and Miami Lakes officials told the Herald they are holding off changes to their permitting process until the state releases those standards.
“Once released, the Town will compare the State’s standards with the existing Town ordinance,” said Daniel Angel, Miami Lakes’ zoning director.
Fake can feel baked
In sun-drenched places like Miami, where extreme heat warnings are common, you can often feel the difference between fake and real. Natural grass tends to cool thing off. And that’s not just what you or your dog might feel under your feet. University of Florida assistant professor Marco Schiavon, who is based in Fort Lauderdale, said widespread use of synthetic grass could contribute to even higher local temperatures.
“What surprised me was that artificial turf grass on stadiums was often, if not always, warmer than the parking lot right next to it,” Schivaon said. He said he’s measured artificial turf to be as much as 100 degrees hotter than real grass.
Earlier this week, with partly cloudy skies and the air temperature at 91 degrees, The Miami Herald conducted its own check using a infrared thermometer. The results were not quite as extreme but still striking: in many locations, artificial turf measured nearly 40 degrees hotter than natural grass.
At the dog park at Margaret Pace Park in Miami, the turf reached 150 degrees, while the grass nearby was 112. That was not the only issue. Kevin Lopez, who came with his German shepherd mix Cosmo, said, “The smell is worse on the turf, and the poop just sticks.”
Aida Curtis, a landscape architect with 40 years of local experience, said she refuses to use artificial turf in her designs because of how it absorbs heat and is a danger to children, dogs and the environment and is a “liability waiting to happen.”
“We’re already into the problem of climate change. Severe high temperatures, more rain, and rather than going back to nature, like putting grass, we’re removing a natural system to put an artificial system,” Curtis said.
Juan Jose waters the artificial turf installed in the front of his house in the East Hialeah area, where this kind of material installation is in high demand. (1140x809, AR: 1.4091470951792335)
Spraying the turf with water, common before many sports events. can cool it down but also tamps down on a benefit that the industry highlights — that it doesn’t need watering.
“You are replacing turf grass with artificial for water conservation, but then you find yourself watering a piece of plastic in order to have that piece of plastic functional, and at that point, you have lost all the environmental benefits,” said UF’s Schiavon.
READ MORE: Artificial turf contains dangerous chemicals like PFAS — and there's no way to discard it safely
A rainstorm over a Little Haiti soccer field showed the difference water can make, but it’s still hotter than the real stuff. After the storm, the artificial turf field was 120 degrees and the grass right beside it was 96 degrees – a 24-degree difference.
“You can see the heat radiating from the turf,” said Anthony Rodriguez, a 16-year-old playing for the first time at the soccer field.
But the fake grass does have one upside in a heat wave, according to the artificial turf industry. It looks good. It won’t dry up and turn patchy – its color remains pristine green.
Drainage questions
While the newer, artificial turf is designed with drainage holes, some experts say it’s still not enough for the stronger and wetter storms Miami is prone to have because of climate change.
Jason Kruse, an associate professor of turfgrass science at the University of Florida, said fake grass takes an area that would’ve been naturally permeable and reduces it’s infiltration potential.
Andy Rodriguez practices at the Little Haiti Soccer Park that is covered with artificial turf in the afternoon. (1140x760, AR: 1.5)
“Because of the rainfall that we get in Florida, we need a place for that water to go. And if we can infiltrate it into the profile, that’s better for everybody, because it gets down to the aquifer and we don’t have to deal with it in the stormwater system,” he said. “ I suspect that if we were to see more installation of synthetic turf that may result in more runoff, which could have some consequences that we’re not really thinking about at the moment.”
It’s important to note that there are different standards of turf in the industry that could be better suited for water, Kruse said. Bigger sports fields are usually evacuated and then storm drainage is added underneath in those cases, he said.
Real grass, on the other hand, helps with drainage and a healthy soil microbiome. Kruse said the roots open up pathways underground that loosen the soil undergrowth, and leave a channel water can seep through.
“You do see increased infiltration over time with these established root zones,” he said.
While synthetic turf lacks the ecological benefits of natural grass, Goodman, Perez, and others in the industry point to how it doesn’t require any pesticides or fertilizer, which drive many of the state’s water pollution problems.
But scientists told the Herald that while it eliminates fertilizer run-off, there is concern of the grass breaking down over time and contributing to micro-plastic pollution in our waterways.
Landfill-bound
Artificial grass has a lifespan of about eight to ten years, and after that, most of it goes to the landfill. Some companies specialize in artificial grass recycling, such as Artificial Grass Recyclers, but Kruse said they aren’t always regionally accessible.
“It’s not cost-effective to transport it to a location where they can recycle it. So most of these products end up in landfills at the end of life,” Kruse said.
Whatever the concerns, artificial turf does offer a quick fix to someone who wants a good looking lawn out front. One homeowner in Hialeah said he took a DIY approach to recycling old turf in his yard. Juan José explained that his son salvaged some artificial turf from a job where it was being removed, and they installed it themselves last year.
“We like how it looks much more,” he said. “We plan to get the rest of the yard done this year.”
Sean Goodman, the owner of Royal Synthetic Turf, which is based in South Florida, said lawmakers made the right call in responding to consumer demand. The restrictions by some cities hurt business because most customers want entire lawns redone, not just a piece of it.
“If the customer wants the entire house with artificial turf,” he said, “we should be able to do it.”