Musings
TURF VS. GRASS
By Sue Pascoe · September 18, 2023
Every week at the Palisades High School football game, inevitably a player will slip on the turf. Facebook James, who broadcasts the games, calls the field the unknown factor. A runner may start running and then just fall for no apparent reason other than his foot seems to slip.
The Aaron Roger injury in the Jets game has once again put turf in the spotlight. Studies show that players suffer a higher rate of lower extremity injuries on artificial turf. But a recent review (turf vs. grass) in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, which received financial support from the artificial turf industry found that only a few studies reported a higher injury on turf. A study of NFL players published this year found that play on synthetic turf produced a 16 percent increase in lower extremity injuries per play than on natural surfaces.
World Cup games coming to America in 2026 will be played on grass—synthetic fields will not be used.
PLASTIC/POLYESTER
The Wall Street Journal on Friday, called “Polyester the refined sugar of our wardrobes: It’s cheap, has an iffy reputation and is in almost everything from leggings to $4,000 jackets. An estimated 34 million tons of it went into apparel in 2021.”
Derived from petroleum, there is a new push to try and recycle the clothing, which would stop it from being incinerated or put in landfill – and to stop the carbon emissions from manufacturing it. Breakthrough Energy Ventures partner Libby Wayman said, “It’s the biggest opportunity to reduce emissions that isn’t something we’re already working on.”
HIGH SCHOOL ENTRIES SOUGHT
The Pacific Palisades Community Council is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a community jubilee from noon to 4 p.m. on September 30 in Simon Meadow.
High school students (private and public) are invited to submit, art, photography, poetry and writing to [email protected] by September 23. In the subject line write “Submission 50” with the name of the artist. If the work has a title, please include that in the body of the email with the artist’s contact information.
Sue Pascoe
Editor, Circling The News ·
circlingthenews.com