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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Aggressive deer encounters prompt city forum ... Wild Side: Summer vacation lessons from the heartland ... Ticket Availability ... Aggressive deer encounters prompt city forum ... Wild Side: Summer vacation lessons from the heartland ... Ticket Availability ... OUR VIEW Our View: Trying out the turf Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jul. 14, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Jul. 14, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Artificial turf on the Siskiyou Boulevard median strip? The horror. But wait. What if we told you it would save up to 2,600 cubic feet of water every year — just for the short strip in front of Omar's restaurant? That's almost 20,000 gallons. The city is conducting a pilot project on that short strip this summer. Crews replaced the natural grass with special synthetic turf (more on that below) and planted the rest with drought-tolerant vegetation.  Now imagine all the median strips along Siskiyou converted to artifical grass. Looking at the strips from the satellite view in Google maps and eyeballing the combined length in a completely unscientific manner, we'd estimate the remaining strips amount to least 25 times the pilot project strip, which would mean 65,000 cubic feet of water savings, or 486,000 gallons. Not to mention the reduced emissions from not having to mow all that grass. But isn't artificial turf made from plastic, which is made from petroleum? This turf is actually 70 percent from soybean oil. The rest is recycled water bottles. Can't get much greener than that. What clinches the deal for us is the fact that the water used to irrigate those median strips isn't from the Talent Irrigation District. It's from Reeder Reservoir. In other words, drinking water. It makes sense to save that precious commodity for people to drink rather than dumping it on grass. The city wants feedback. Weigh in with a letter to [email protected]  and an email to [email protected] . DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jul. 14, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501