Many people don't realize that a lush green lawn can carry a heavy environmental price. Area households, parks and businesses use about 1.1 million pounds of pesticides per year, wreaking havoc on streams and lakes. Additionally, the average Puget Sound household generates nearly 1,000 pounds of grass clippings annually, overloading composting facilities. To combat this problem, the City of Seattle and King County hired PRR to devise and implement a program to move the regions lawn care ethic toward natural lawn care.

Program goals were to increase the number of grasscyclers, decrease the use of weed-n-feed, and decrease the amount of water used on lawns. We kept messages simple: practice grasscycling by leaving clippings on the lawn to enrich soil; cut water consumption; dont use harsh pesticides. To drive the "When it comes to your lawn, act naturally" tagline, we created a friendly character, Bert the Salmon, to serve as spokesfish. This integrated approach to getting our message to our target audience included radio and TV promotions, habit change kits, and special events such as garden and home shows. To illustrate the importance of natural lawn care, we recruited a neighborhood to go natural for one summer. Residents watered their lawns sparingly, cleared their homes of lawn care chemicals, gave up their gas mowers, and pulled weeds by hand. In return, they received a free electric mulching mower, free lawn care consultations, and a host of green products such as organic fertilizer. At the end of the summer, 17 of the 19 families elected to continue using natural lawn care. PRR's approach yielded remarkable results. The number of people leaving grass clippings on their lawns increased by 157,300 households; weed-n-feed products are no longer used on 156,200 yards, and the number of people not watering their lawns increased by 193,600 homes. Over the life of Natural Lawn Care, PRR garnered 162 media stories, equaling 15,851,745 gross impressions and won the Public Relations Society of Americas coveted Silver Anvil award.