Project EverGreen Rates Consumer Perceptions
What’s the value of green space in to the American consumer? Results of Project EverGreen’s consumer survey revealed conflicting attitudes and misconceptions about the value of green spaces and green industry products and services.
Overall, consumers have a positive attitude about maintaining their lawns and landscapes. Discrepancies between this belief and the actual services and products needed to maintain green spaces – private or public – were uncovered in the Project EverGreen survey.
“For example,” explained Den Gardner, executive director of Project EverGreen, “Ninety percent of those surveyed agreed that landscaping is important in improving their home’s value at sale time. However, only 50 percent agreed that landscaping was important in reducing energy costs. In the same way there seems to be a lack of knowledge of the role green space can play in helping regulate air quality. Forty percent of survey respondents either disagreed or said they didn’t know that trees, shrubs and turfgrass remove pollutants from the air.”
The survey, conducted nationwide, is part of Project EverGreen’s ongoing work in assessing awareness of the benefits provided by well-maintained urban landscapes, both public and private. “It’s not surprising that more education is needed to fully appreciate all dimensions of the value green space has for our society,” Gardner said, “but there are signs of progress. For example, respondents indicated that if tax increases were necessary for the purpose of building public green spaces and parks, they’d vote ‘yes’ 55-45. That’s encouraging.” For more information on this study, visit www.projectevergreen.com.
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