The daily environments of consumption are some of the most ecologically significant and economically complex of contemporary landscapes. The North American lawn in particular, in part because of its very ordinariness, is both ubiquitous as well as socially and environmentally influential. This paper explores the social forces and political economic conditions under which the lawns persist in the United States. Utilizing a national survey as well as intensive interviews with homeowners, this research seeks to determine: 1) the degree to which education and environmental concern influence lawn care behaviors, 2) the role of social institutions and industrial strategies in normalizing behaviors, and 3) the opportunities and limits for selecting landscaping alternatives.

Results/Conclusions

The results of the study suggest that 1) increased awareness and acknowledgment of chemical impacts positively correlate with chemical use, 2) intensive yard management is associated with positive associations with social activity and responsibility, and 3) significant social institutions, linked to marketed aesthetics and priorities, limit the range and acceptance of alternatives. These results draw into serious question any unproblematic assumptions about awareness-raising and education as central planks of landscape reform. They also point to the need for collective and neighborhood–scale interventions, as well as reform of homeowner associations and municipal property laws, in order to foster changes in behavior. They also suggest the analytical difficulty of separating individual behavior, personal values, and the political economy of agrochemical manufacture and sale.