The Marcy Institute for a Better World

Trustworthy information, made freely available.

We research issues that affect our communities, our health, and our environment; document the evidence with rigorous citations; and give people practical tools to act on what they learn. Every claim on this site links to its source, so you can decide for yourself.

Explore the topics Take action in your community

200°F

peak surface temperature measured on turf — hot enough to burn skin in seconds

~250 tons

of plastic waste from a single field, with no U.S. plant that recycles it

16,000

tonnes of microplastics shed into the environment each year in the EU alone

8–15 yrs

before it wears out and the whole cycle — and cost — repeats

Our topics

Each campaign is a full evidence base: plain-language issue pages, the strongest counter-arguments answered fairly, the policy precedents, the better options, and tools to act.

Campaign One

The Truth About Fake Grass

Plastic lawns are sold as clean, green, and carefree. The evidence says otherwise.

14 issue pages
145 sources
52 peer-reviewed

Explore Fake Grass →

Next in research: 🌆 Urban Heat · 🪸 Sunscreen & Coral Reefs. We publish a topic only once its evidence pages are sourced and reviewed.

We're not here to shout. We're here to show you.

There's a lot of heated argument about these issues online. We took a different approach: we read the studies. Everything we publish is organized by topic, graded by how strong the evidence is, and honest about what the research does and doesn't prove. Where the other side has a real point, we say so.

Our promise: every fact on this site links to a published study, government report, or news investigation. If we can't source it, we don't say it. How we grade evidence →

Information should end in a next step.

For every topic we publish ready-to-use tools — talking points, letter templates, model policies, and printable handouts — so one informed person can have a friendly, well-sourced conversation with a neighbor, a board, or a city council.

Get the toolkits About the Institute