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We did it. In a unanimous 7-0 vote last Tuesday, the Santa Monica City Council officially adopted a Parks and Recreation Vision Plan that moves us away from a plastic future. Amazing work and thank you to all who wrote, spoke, and shared.
🏆 The Big Win
After a wave of advocacy from students, parents, and environmental experts, the Council rejected a staff proposal that would have automatically replaced existing turf fields with more plastic. Instead, the City is now mandated to:
Evaluate Natural Grass First: When the plastic fields at Airport and Belmar parks reach the end of their life, the City must now look at durable natural grass alternatives instead of just ordering more synthetic turf.
Protect Our Health: Council members explicitly cited concerns over PFAS (forever chemicals), microplastics, and the extreme heat (up to 170°F) that plagues plastic fields.
Embrace "City as Habitat": The new 25-year plan shifts the focus toward living landscapes that support people, plants, and animals—not plastic carpet.
🗣 A Community-Led Turnaround
This victory was fueled by the powerful testimony of Team Marine students, the Commission on Sustainability, and local sports families who know firsthand that "turf burns" and heat exhaustion are not worth the convenience. We owe our thanks to Council Member Jesse Zwick for leading the amendment that put environmental safety over the status quo.
What’s Next?
While the City is moving in the right direction, the SMMUSD School Board is still lagging behind. We need to take this momentum to the District and demand they stop their planned turf installations at our local schools. 📣 Use our Action Guide to let them know!
The precedent is set: Santa Monica wants real grass. Let's keep the pressure on.
-The Pro Green Space Working Group & Coalition for Resilient Santa Monica
Join Our Community Effort
This is a community-powered movement, and your voice is critical. Here are two simple ways you can get involved right now:
1. Stay Informed: The best way to help is to stay up-to-date. Subscribe to our newsletter below 👇 for key updates, new research, and simple, high-impact ways to make your voice heard.
2. Share Your Voice: Take our 3-minute community survey. We need to hear your experiences with our local parks and fields. Your input gives us the data we need to show our leaders what the community really wants