Quentin Johnston and Denzel Perryman participated in the PaliHi coin toss on the SoFi turf field.
This editor used cloth diapers for her three children, because disposable diapers are made with plastic materials and can break down over time into microplastics. A diaper company delivered cloth diapers to the doorstep, picked up the dirty ones and laundered them.
It was more expensive, but I hoped that the washing and drying was putting less plastic in the environment. I never used pacifiers because some studies showed that baby item will release micro-and nanoplastics.
I learned that the clothing that gives off the most microfibers are polyester, nylon, acrylic and spandex, which are all made from petroleum-based fibers. According to Earth.Org, “Nearly 10 percent of microplastics dispersed in the ocean each year comes from textiles and it is the ‘equivalent to the plastic pollution of more than 50 billion bottles.’”
Over the last 25 years, I have refer’d soccer. Average time spent on fields? A lot. For example, this past September until now, I have averaged eight games a weekend on turf and grass. This week, high school soccer starts, and I already have three games, two are on turf, which is actually preferable to some of the really bad dirt/grass fields.
I would wager, I have spent more time on playing fields than the average adult—including being on the field at SoFi Stadium to cover the last Palisades High School football game.
In the past, I have come out against turning the grass field at the Rec Center into a turf field. But, now after research, I’m weighing both sides.
The grass Field of Dreams at the Rec Center replaced an awful field of dirt with clumps of weeds and lots of dog feces that was supposedly maintained by the City. I know because my kids played T-Ball before it was turned over to locals.
After raising all the money to redo the fields, the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association had right of entry and use, as long as they agreed to the maintenance.
Initially, a local man Brian Sullivan, a director of agronomy, whose son played for the league about 24 years ago, tended to the fields as a volunteer, with the cost of fertilizer, seeding, mowing and water costs covered by PPBA.
He continued tending the grass several years as a volunteer, even after his son was out of the program. When he moved on, the entire cost of caring for those fields, which is now about $150K a year (including fertilizers, water and hiring gardeners/groundskeepers) transferred to PPBA.
PPBA families helped underwrite those costs with their baseball registration. (Santa Monica and Cheviot Hills dues for baseball players are half of the cost of the Palisades.)
If people want to maintain grass, they need to raise $150,000 annually, and place it in an account, so that it will continue into perpetuity. The City does not keep up its park fields. If one wants to see a particularly bad example, the Barrington Field behind that Post Office is so pitted with gopher holes, that it is unsafe to play on.
And this ref has worked other city fields, that desperately need upkeep, but do not receive them because of money and water conservation. Most fields in Los Angeles, including the Rec Center are overused. The Palisades fields in addition to baseball have nonstop sports, including soccer, lacrosse, flag football and local school use for physical education.
This editor was on the sidelines at the SoFi Stadium and that turf was amazing (Hellas Construction’ synthetic Matrix Turf system). James Towsley, Vice President of Business Development for Hellas Construction, told theRams.com in a phone interview. “I think it’s really because of player safety and performance why they went in our direction.” Leagues, with some of the most expensive athletes in America are using turf.
For soccer at SoFi, it’s a hybrid field system with natural grass over an artificial turf layer.
The turf proposed by PPBA is TenCate, which is PFAS-free and without infill (sand or black rubber pellets) click here.
TenCate, according to its website, “Pure PT primarily consists of polyethylene, has no infill and is designed for recycling.” And “the system produces negligible microplastic compared to older turf types.” click here.
Unless the City magically finds money for upkeep of its fields or there is a donor that will give $1.5 million to fund the field (and oversee it) for the next 10 years, the new generation of turf, without infill, should be considered for highly used sports fields.
Thank you for having an open mind, Sue! A few years ago, I would have contested turf, but not any more. I know many have complained that it gets hot or is stinky, but that has not been our experience at all and we play baseball on the turf in Simi Valley in the middle of the summer. Never had a problem. Really hoping we are able to move forward soon and get the kids back out on those fields!
I also cloth-diapered my kids, but unlike the editor I had to launder everything myself because that was the less expensive option. And honestly, that’s the same way I feel about real grass.
I want natural grass for the same reasons I chose cloth diapers:
it’s healthier for our children, and in the long run, it’s far less expensive than plastic alternatives.
Real grass doesn’t break down into microplastics.
It doesn’t heat up to dangerous temperatures.
It doesn’t have to be ripped out and thrown in a landfill every 5–8 years.
And it doesn’t come with the massive replacement and disposal costs that turf always does.
Just like cloth diapers, natural grass requires maintenance but that maintenance supports a living, cooling, healthy surface for kids to play on, not a plastic product with a short lifespan and long-term environmental costs.
That’s why I’m advocating for real grass. Not because it’s the easy option, but because it’s the healthier and more economical one for our community’s kids.
Also, the links cited go directly to the manufacturer’s own marketing sites.
For FACTS and not opinion. I would recommend people who want to know the real information surrounding artificial turf read articles based in science, research and more thorough reporting.
https://www.ncsa.la/artificial_turf
https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2025-09-17/californias-love-hate-relationship-with-artificial-turf
https://zerowasteithaca.substack.com/p/cornells-pfas-free-turf-claim-proven?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1531713&post_id=178537146&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=gf83l&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Love the Sullivan’s…dear friends of the family. Brian coached my youngest…great coach and all around great man.
Best to read the real science around artificial turf.
There is no safe and benign plastic. It is made from petroleum and causes cancer and reproductive harm throughout its life cycle.
Revisiting the ashes and rubble of my home of 35 years in our beloved town of Pacific Palisades, I noticed something alarming in the debris: the burned remains of my neighbor’s plastic grass, now heaped on my property.
The sight made me sad because as an environmental attorney, I know a lot about the toxins in that plastic grass and how these toxins, especially melted, impact our environment, soil and nearby ocean.
I’m sure my neighbor installed the plastic grass with good intentions, but we now know that artificial turf has not brought expected benefits such as water savings. Cooling and cleaning plastic grass can require more water than would be used for the maintenance of natural, drought-tolerant grasses.
Most significantly, plastic grass has created many unintended consequences. Plastic grass is manufactured with petrochemicals, and the manufacturing process uses harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances and other hazardous chemicals. PFAS, “forever chemicals,” are associated with cancer and linked to growth, learning and behavioral problems in infants and children; fertility and pregnancy problems; thyroid disease; asthma; and more.
Toxic runoff from plastic grass contaminates drinking water, rivers, lakes and oceans with microplastics as well as PFAS. The EPA has recently reported that there is no safe amount of PFOA or PFOS (types of PFAS) in drinking water, and both have consistently been found in plastic grass.
Plastic grass has been shown to reach temperatures much higher than natural grass, readily reaching 160 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit or more, creating heat-island effects, and causing heat-related injuries and illnesses such as skin burns and heat stress.
Ornamental artificial turf should be replaced with native plant species that are the most cost-effective measure to battle the warming effect while supporting butterflies, local songbirds and other wildlife.
Finally, because it is made of mixed plastic materials, artificial grass will never be economically viable for recycling. At the end of its lifecycle it is sent to a landfill, illegally dumped or sent out of state to be incinerated. My neighbor’s burned plastic grass is simply toxic waste.
Artificial turf is a danger to the health and safety of our community and our environment, and it fails to produce promised water savings. So when we rebuild, let’s rebuild better with health and safety in mind. Rebuild with native plants and not plastic grass. Resilient Palisades is here to provide guidance to the community as we rebuild even better.
For further information visit ncsa.la/artificial_turf and resilientpalisades.org.
Lisa Kaas Boyle, Esq.