I spent the Fourth of July weekend in Connecticut. Salisbury, to be exact; the charming town that Meryl Streep calls home.
Being from the Northwest, it was not the lush greenery nor the rain that fell on and off over the weekend. 
We “webfeeters” have those things and are used to seeing them.
What DID impress me were the acres and acres of immaculately trimmed lawns. 
The county looks like a cross between a giant cemetery and a golf course, 
with a few clubhouse/mortuaries and some forests thrown in for good measure. Even the pastures are mowed. 
I’m not saying it’s not beautiful. It is one of the loveliest places I’ve seen. But it struck me as odd, all this lawn maintenance, in a portion of the country known for its liberal persuasion and “Save the planet” mentality. 
Lawns are not eco-friendly in any way, shape or form.
Seattle-ites are eco-minded across the board, even those more conservative (I happen to not think that conservatives love the planet less, by the way. 
Most of them tend to see the glass half full as opposed to the half empty view of “Oh my God, what will happen?”). I lean to that direction. 
I believe that if one piled up all the dire things that happen in a year on our planet, and weighed them against all the good, the scale would be heavy to the positive, indeed. Not my politics, simply my belief.
I love lawns. I water my lawn; I cut my lawn. I enjoy my lawn just as much as I’m sure the North-easterners do theirs. But, as is said about many things, size counts. 
And, sometimes, smaller IS better.