People In Sweden Held A “Ugliest Lawn” Contest To Help Conserve Water
People have to avoid watering their lawns for an entire season and compete for the brownest, driest lawn.
The Swedish Island of Gotland has held its second annual “ugliest lawn” contest to conserve limited water resources.
To win the contest, people compete for the “ugliest” lawn, which means the brownest, driest lawn.
Residents are encouraged to avoid watering their lawns for an entire season and then share photos of their dry lawns on social media to win.
The idea of the contest came after the country implemented an irrigation ban in 2022 to help conserve water during summer.
It is aimed at making people aware of the water shortage on the island and changing the norms of having green, well-kept lawns.
Gotland, which is Sweden’s biggest island, frequently experiences drought and water scarcity.
The competition helped reduce household water consumption by 5% last year, according to the Gotland’s official website.
“It was the easiest competition to win, I didn’t have to do anything,” Stina Östman, this year’s winner, said, according to the Guardian.
“It’s always nice to win, even if you are the worst,” she added. 33 municipalities in Sweden currently have bans on outdoor water usage because the country has been regularly experiencing droughts and water scarcity.
As other countries are also facing extreme water stress, the contest is now open to all people from around the world to post their “ugliest” lawns with the hashtag #worldsugliestlawn.
“The beauty of this competition is that while we crown a winner, everyone who participates is a winner,” the region director of Gotland told Almost.
“This campaign is one of the solutions that activate people and a change in behavior is needed worldwide in these aspects as well,” she added.
The winner will be selected at the end of 2023 and given a unique t-shirt with the text “Proud Owner of the World’s Ugliest Lawn.”
