Here's what we based our script off of. We don't know what to include for facts until we have our interviews. Feedback is always appreciated!

1. 1. Introduction
a. Introduce the idea of pristine lawns and how beautiful they are. Segue
with “What caused lawns to become the social norm? Where did they
come from?”
2. Section 1
a. History of lawns
i. 17th century
1. Sign of wealth in Europe
2. And used to feed animals
th
ii. 19 century
1. Invention of lawnmower increases ability to care for
lawns
th
iii. 20 century
1. Americans travel to Europe and see beautiful, expansive
lawns and want to emulate them when they get home
2. Invent new combination of grasses and
pesticides/herbicides/fertilizers
iv. 20th century (later)
1. Age of lawn care
a. American Garden Club
i. Set the standard for lawn maintenance,
how tall grass should be, how green it is.
Do whatever you can to keep it like that!
Led to people using more and more
chemicals to increase the longevity of
their life
b. The club had a major effect on the American
Dream,
3. Section 2 (Crazed neighbor)
4. Section 3 (Xeriscape/greenscape/ecolawns)
5. Section 4 Lawns are bad m’kay
a. 2,650,000 lbs of fertilizer used annually
b. Fertilizer runoff
i. Nutrients lead to algae buildup depleting the dissolved oxygen
content which in turn reduces the amount of fish a water
system can sustain
ii. Contaminate ground water, increasing levels of nitrate in
drinking water to unhealthy levels, causing nervous system
impairments, birth defects, cancer, and blue baby syndrome
(oxygen content in infants’ blood falls dangerously low, turning
them into blue babies, Violet Beauregarde)
c. Pesticides
i. Kill between 60 and 90% of earth worms (important for soil
health)
ii. Tracked into homes where they can buildup in carpets and
clothes which will cause chronic exposure to families and

2. children
iii. Linked to solid tumors, Leukemia, nervous system, birth defect,
fetal death, growth retardation
d. Energy Use/Waste
i. Energy used transporting water can be more than energy used
to mow lawns
ii. Standard 19 liter per minute sprinkler uses more water in an
hour than a combination 10 toilet flushes, two dishwasher
loads, two 5 minute showers, and a full load of clothes
1. Why is this amount of water use bad?
2. Why conserve water for lawns
a. Save energy, money, environment
iii. Process of refueling lawn equipment every summer
1. What would happen if the amount of oil from the Exxon
Valdeaz oil spill was spilt every year?
a. Well it actually does
2. 17 million gallons of gasoline are spilt every summer =
50% more than Exxon Valdeaz spill
6. Possible voxpop interviews
a. What does the average American on the street really know about
lawns?
b. Giving them alternatives
7. Final section
a. Ideally, you would either get rid of your lawn, xeriscape, greenscape,
etc.
b. What can you do realistically?
i. Compost
ii. Mow without bag on mower
iii. Reasons to not mow as often
1. Bad for environment (emissions)
2. Longer grass holds water better
3. More likely to be fatally injured from mowing than if
you were a police officer
iv. Let your grass grow longer
v. Save money and the water supply by not buying fertilizers,
pesticides, herbicides
vi. Don’t water as often = less mowing and water conservation
vii. Celebrate lawn care month (April) by not adhering to your
typical care-routine