No Lawns

Grass takes a lot of water and maintenance to look good. A lot of places are increasingly short on water.

Wood chips might help hold water better/better promote natives to grow there, also probably to help the soil gain back some nutrients

I think in that particular towns case, they don't want people using any kind of sprays on the lawn. Native is always the best option when given a choice.

Grass needs lots of water (resource that's scarce in places), mowing (gas lawnmowers are big polluters), many companies use fertilizers and herbicides (fertilizers run off into the water system and herbicides are very harmful). But mostly grass is a monoculture and doesn't support our native bees, butterflies, or birds which we rely on to pollinate our food crops. Grass is useful in areas with heavy foot traffic, but we grow way more of it than we really need.

Not really sure, something about nitrogen runoff maybe? I don't really recall, but I have the memory of a goldfish so I could be way off.

I had a place in my backyard where grass wouldn't grow because it ponded too much. Have since covered with mulch to prevent any more erosion and planted blueberries and creeping phlox. Much prettier now!