Sheep As Urban Lawn Mowers Improve Environmental And Human Health
<p>In addition to grazing on invasive weeds and keeping the grass short, the sheepmowers enrich the environment by depositing organic fertilizer at regular intervals on the landscapes where they graze. Sheepmowers also provide a lot of other environmental benefits, particularly reducing noise pollution and decreasing fossil fuel consumption by mechanical lawnmowers. But a recent study goes further than even those benefits: it reports that sheepmowers are providing some surprising and unexpected bonuses: they improve peoples’ mental health and well-being, and reduce student stress levels simply by … <em>being</em>.</p>
<p>“This started out as an experiment to test their mowing abilities, and we have now published research on how they make people feel peaceful,” said the lead author of the new study, landscape architect Haven Kiers, director of the <a href="https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/sheep-mowers" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">sheepmowers project</a> and an assistant professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">University of California at Davis</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/gardening-birding-and-outdoor-adventure/sheep-as-urban-lawn-mowers-improve-environmental-and-human-health-3c1314b2cfca"><strong>Learn More</strong></a></p>