(Illustration by Graham Roberts and Bedel Saget for The New York Times.)

In trying to absolve themselves of their litany of environmental sins, some golf courses have started using treated effluent water to maintain their unnatural lushness.

According to The New York Times, “Golf courses are all but weaned from municipal fresh-water systems, with 86 percent now using some other source, like recycled effluent water, surface water or water treated by reverse osmosis. Significantly, 70 percent of [golf club] superintendents surveyed said they were keeping their turf drier.”

Additionally, those that can afford it have been experimenting with “subterranean wireless sensors” to better manage and monitor their water use. In terms of water conservation, they're turning out to be quite a success. One club superintendent is quoted as saying that they have cut the amount of water they use in half.

The implication here, of course, is that giving high-tech intelligence to other landscapes — to athletic fields, farms, parks and home gardens — could mean a reduction in resource consumption there as well.

Now if only some of these golf clubs try to absolve themselves of their racist, sexist and other socio-exclusionary policies.

In the Archives:
Agro-veillance

And:
Of golf courses, filtration plants, and green roofs