By: Jim Novak
There’s no denying that water conservation is an important issue, especially in those regions of the country where annual rainfall is minimal and/or water is a precious commodity. Some local and state agencies have resorted to attention-getting ads to influence the public when it comes to the use of natural turfgrass.
You will note that we said “attention-getting,” rather than “educational” or “informative” ads, and therein lies the problem. Denver Water’s 2009 water conservation media program used billboards to portray a negative perception of natural grass — going so far as to suggest “Grass Is Dumb.”
The Southern Nevada Water Authority’s 2008 print ad campaign offered the following: “Sod. It just doesn’t work . . . no matter how long he’s been with you, he’s bad for business. The only solution is to replace him with water-smart landscaping.”
These are two examples of eye-appealing campaigns that do little to educate and inform the public. To suggest the removal of turfgrass is the answer to water conservation, or to suggest that turfgrass sod is bad for the environment, is grossly misleading.
Regarding Denver Water’s “Grass is Dumb” campaign, Dr. Tony Koski, an extension turf specialist and professor at Colorado State University, expressed the following in a letter to the director of public affairs at Denver Water:
As an industry, we find this ad campaign to be both non-factual and somewhat insulting to the professionals who maintain turfgrass and those scientists who conduct turf research. Your ad suggesting that “grass is grass” and that “evolution” has somehow bypassed the turfgrass plant belies the efforts of these breeders and the many millions of dollars spent annually to develop more drought-, heat-, traffic- and pest-resistant cultivars of all turfgrasses. Finally, we feel there is perhaps an underlying bias in your message against lawns and their management. I won’t bother listing the numerous environmental benefits of lawns, as well as the documented positive economic impact of the lawn, landscape, sod and allied green industries on Colorado’s economy. It is our hope that, in the future, you might consider working with some of our green industry professionals as you develop conservation campaigns that might be both educational and effective in doing what all of us strive for — keeping landscapes green and healthy, with less water.
We agree with Dr. Koski ’s comments, and that’s why it was so encouraging when we saw the clever series of ads created by the state of Maryland’s Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection.
Their “Grasscycling” series of 18 illustrated ads serve as a great example of how to better inform the public through education and the sharing of worthwhile and practical information.
Yes, water conservation is extremely important — but so, too, are the numerous benefits of turfgrass when it comes to reducing storm water runoff, recharging and filtering our ground water supply, soil erosion control, retaining and sequestering carbon, capturing and suppressing dust, etc. Regardless of our responsibilities, be it managing a sports field, overseeing a golf course or dealing with commercial and residential properties, we all benefit when we share our knowledge constructively.
If you have unfilled space in your own publication, Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection invites you to download and use any or all of their series of 18 ads. Visit the website at:http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/dep/solidwaste/news/ads_grasscycling.asp.
