Greener on the Other Side

Project Evergreen, a "trade association formed by pesticide makers, applicators, garden centers and mower manufacturers," will launch a "national public-relations campaign this spring touting the health and lifestyle benefits of thick, green lawns." The campaign is partly in response to pesticide restrictions passed by 70 cities and one province in Canada. One Project Evergreen ad reads, "Legislation and regulations have been throwing the green industry some rough punches. ... We're about to start fighting back." The president of Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, a pesticide-industry lobbying group, said, "Local communities generally do not have the expertise on issues about pesticides to make responsible decisions." The environmental group Beyond Pesticides plans a counter-campaign.