1966 was the first year that synthetic turf appeared. It was introduced in the Houston Astrodome after there were issues with the roof reflecting sunlight. This made it incredibly difficult to see while inside.
After much discussion, Astrodome owners decided to paint the roof, however this brought to light another issue . Due to the lack of sun, the grass inside the stadium was dying. Stadium owners as well as a group of engineers, decided that the grass should be replaced with the first ever artificial playing field.(1)
Since its initial release, Astroturf has gone through many make-overs, including a name change to: Synthetic Turf. During the 1970’s, a lot of development occurred with the manufacturing of turf. The turf went from, essentially a green carpet made with nylon fibers to, being made from polypropylene. “Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic “addition polymer” made from the combination of propylene monomers”(2) Polypropylene is considered to be one of the safe plastics with no harmful side effects to date.
Synthetic turf can be found all over the world. It can be installed just about anywhere including but definitely not limited to: lawns, roof tops, cars, inside of your house or even on a boat.
(1)http://www.tencate.com/amer/grass/Synthetic-turf-101/Request-a-Presentation/default.aspx
(2)https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/all-about-polypropylene-pp-plastic
