This 'ugliest lawn' contest got people to save a lot of water
Swedish campaign from Differ brought a clever twist to H20 conservation
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A Swedish municipality is challenging people to embrace the ugly things in life—for the sake of nature.
The Swedish island of Gotland suffers from severe drought during the hot, dry summer months, impacting the overall water availability. So along with agency Differ, it decided to launch the “Gotland’s Ugliest Lawn” initiative to show people the good that an ugly, un-watered lawn can bring.
The competition got homeowners to save water in a fun way in order to sway them from trying to maintain bright green lawns in a climate where they’re near impossible to maintain. The success led to the end of an irrigation ban that began on April 24.
”That Gotland can stand as a model internationally with a creative approach to one of our biggest climate challenges gives us a huge push forward in our sustainability work and a great desire to continue challenging,” Mimmi Gibson, acting marketing and brand manager at the Region Gotland municipality said in a statement.
Out of several truly ugly entries, the eventual winner was Marcus Norström who did not water his lawn the entire summer. He will get free advice from a gardener on choosing plants that don’t need much water.
