Google grounds

Sounds like the name of a special coffee blend for Google, right? However, I am referring to their campuses.

As a company that has already shown a commitment to the environment in its core values, such as reducing their carbon imprint, offering shuttle services to take cars off of the road, constructing healthier buildings and so on, I would like to see Google take another big step further: institute green policies in its very landscaping.

When I first learned of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) several years ago, I thought it was a rather quaint little organization of nature-lovers that wanted to preserve this pretty little flower or that rare plant. However, it’s much more than that. Although it can be said that Mother Nature starts in the soil, people can more readily see the plants that grow out of it. And it’s the native plants that are most able to provide the food and livelihood: the leaves, nectar, pollen, flowers, berries, etc. for the critters around them: insects, birds, mammals, and so on. And this web of life continues on up the chain. These living organisms have been evolving together for thousands of years and the web of life is disrupted by introducing non-native species.

With each new commercial and residential development comes the energy intensive and non-native landscaping that has become ubiquitous: huge expanses of lawns and the rather limited palette of shrubs and flowers that require copious amounts of water and fertilizers, if not poisonous insecticides too. They’re certainly not soil-friendly. In the case of the corporate campus, I do see how grass can be such an aesthetic as well as functional part of the working day: a soft, cushy surface to walk on after too much time spent indoors, as well as a comfortable spot to sit on while reading or eating lunch. 

However, I’d like to see the use of manicured grass and lawns minimized. There’s little wildlife value to be gained from patches of grass, and the cost of lawn care is much more than monetary. Lawnmowers use either electricity or gasoline and therefore pollute the air. If mowers are utilized, then why not make a huge statement and authorize the use of only manual lawnmowers? It’s much more labor intensive and probably difficult to find a lawn maintenance company willing to do that, but a statement nonetheless. And then rake the clippings and put them in compost piles. Just as there are ‘greener’ practices when designing buildings such as using energy efficient glass and solar paneling, the very plants we choose and how we care for them have an enormous imprint and play a vital role in our environment.

If Google, for example, as an internationally known company were to lead the way in landscaping its grounds, it could play a huge role in saving the world. I’m serious. Much of the acreage on its campuses could be devoted to the native fauna and flora of their locations. They could be at the forefront of supporting native bee populations, or even gain some positive publicity for helping bring back a rare and declining butterfly population: is there a similar butterfly in the Mountain View area to the fabled Mission Blue? Are there native lupine flowers that would support such butterflies? What about stands of locally native manzanitas and lilacs? Mountain View is situated in the South Bay near the San Francisco Bay itself. There must be a lovely and vital palette of plants to choose from.

I’d like to imagine that corporate campuses all across the country would soon follow suit - the headquarters as well as all facilities of Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Adobe, etc. with Google leading the way. Business parks such as Bishop Ranch in San Ramon and Shadelands in Walnut Creek could also re-landscape their properties, thereby reducing water usage and bringing our native wildlife back. Reducing water usage – that would be a key objective; imagine how much water can be saved by reducing as much outdoor watering as possible! 

Google is so international, they could do the same in all their offices around the world. Because it’s certainly not just in the United States that local flora and fauna is important. I’ve read that the translucent and beautiful California poppy is now a pest plant in Australia, perhaps in retribution for what harm the eucalyptus has done in taking over so much of our landscape here. In all seriousness though, this is a case of how two wrongs don’t make it right.

If I could work with Google in landscaping their Mountain View campus, I’d contact the Santa Clara Chapter of the CNPS and find out their recommendations for how to best incorporate environmentally responsible plantings with employee-friendly outdoor areas. I’d want to find out which plant communities are represented in that part of Santa Clara County, and how to re-create them while making the spaces eminently vibrant and relaxing for people. There could even be more remote parts of the campus devoted to different ecosystems, such as ponds brimming with native aquatic life; or restoring wetlands that may have existed near the bay (if the Google grounds should include the shoreline).

In such a modern and high-tech environment as Google, wouldn’t it be wonderful to not only be socially responsible and current with ‘green’ technology, but also in fine-tune with the natural environment? Many of the latest studies show that people respond positively to exposure to vibrant and balanced outdoor spaces. I can envision employees stepping just outside the confines of their buildings and basking in the native life happening around them: bees buzzing, butterflies fluttering, birds chirping, frogs croaking, and drawing immediate inspiration from such vital energy in addition to the rich oxygen. There could be little enclaves dedicated to attracting hummingbirds by the dozens, some species year-round and others during their migrations. Not to say I’d be creating a South Bay jungle or forest, but it would certainly be more alive than the familiar manicured lawn and precisely trimmed landscape of the typical office complex.

From what I’ve read of Google, they are more open-minded than most companies: I found an article about the ‘Hiveplex’ whereby they had bee hives delivered to one of their campuses. How neat is that? The higher-ups quickly approved the idea, demonstrating their commitment to sustainability, and providing a touch of honey for its employees at the same time. I can envision Google going on to inspire many of its thousands of employees to rethink their own landscaping practices where they live, replacing resource demanding ornamental shrubs with ecology boosting natives. Think globally, act locally, right?