Nature’s Lawnmowers: How One EPA Facility Uses Goats for Eco-Friendly Landscaping
Published July 19, 2022
EPA is focused on environmental protection and sustainability – both through our environmental research, and through sustainable and eco-friendly practices at our facilities. At EPA’s laboratory in Narragansett, RI, one way we’ve become more eco-friendly is by bringing in goats each summer to graze the grounds in lieu of traditional landscaping.
Since 2016, EPA’s Narragansett facility has hosted annual visitors from a local organization that brings in a team of rescue goats to clear the grounds of any unwanted or overgrown plants. These goat landscapers (known as goatscapers) are brought in to manage the lawns in place of using traditional landscaping practices. The goats clear invasive and overgrown plants, and in turn, they have lots of food to eat!
In addition to being great landscapers, the goats are also fan favorites at the lab. Each year, EPA staff and researchers look forward to being able to catch a glimpse of these adorable herbivores.
“Having the goats at the lab each summer is a win-win for everyone,” said Tara Burke, a biologist at EPA’s Narragansett lab. “The goats help us reduce the need for traditional landscaping, contributing to our sustainability efforts. Plus, they are so fun to watch moving about the lab!”
This year’s goat crew was a team of 16 goats, and they all have names! Their names are Holly, Liberty, Tina, Lola, Sokka, Zuko, Sunny, Aung, Genora, Toph, Franky, Agent Jay, Cinnamon, Luna, Jacob, and Eska.
Why Goats?
There are many benefits to hiring goats for management of landscaping when compared with traditional landscaping methods. Hiring goats to manage landscaping reduces the amount of fuel needed to power landscaping equipment and eliminates the need for pesticide use. Goats are also useful on hilly or rocky terrain that would be difficult to access with lawnmowers.
Goats will eat almost all plants, including plants that are invasive, such as mile-a-minute vine, or plants that would be irritating or harmful to humans, such as poison ivy or poison sumac. They also leave behind a source of fertilizer, improving the nutrients in the soil even after they’re gone. Once the goats have finished clearing the overgrown plants, the grounds are more suitable for native plants and can be maintained for much longer than traditional landscaping. In 2022, the goats will visit EPA’s Narragansett facilities twice, once in June and again in August.
Goatscaping is a great solution for improving biodiversity and restoring native plants. Benefits to improving the natural ecosystem can include prevention of erosion, increased oxygen production, carbon dioxide reduction, increased pollination, and more. Who knew that improving sustainability and biodiversity could be so cute?
This article was written by Danielle Moore, an Oak Ridge Associated Universities contractor working in EPA’s Office of Research and Development.