BILL MOLLISON

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Affluent societies have, all unnoticed, developed an agriculture which produces a polluted waste product, in the presence of famine and erosion elsewhere, and the threat of water shortages at home.

The lawn has become the curse of modern town landscapes as sugar cane is the curse of the lowland coastal tropics, and cattle the curse of the semi-arid and arid rangelands.

It is past time to tax lawns - or any wasteful consumption - and to devote that tax to third world relief. I would suggest a tax of $5 per square metre per month for both public and private lawns, updated annually, until all but useful lawns are eliminated.