Five Reasons the TurfMutt Foundation Encourages Communities to Invest in Green Space

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The TurfMutt Foundation has advice for communities – invest in green space for the health and well-being of citizens. The phenomenon of taking indoor activities to the outdoor areas around us (like dining, working, exercising and entertaining) led the TurfMutt Foundation to coin the term "backyarding."

"In light of the growing importance of being outside, we're seeing more communities invest in parks and other community green space as the best amenity to offer their residents," says Kris Kiser, President & CEO of the TurfMutt Foundation, which has advocated for outdoor living and the use and care of green space for 15 years. "They are advancing the concept of backyarding at home now into more public green spaces."

Kiser says the city of Louisville is a prime example. "The TurfMutt Great Lawn and Mulligan's Bark Park in downtown Louisville exemplify how cities can embrace urban greening to enhance their residents' quality of life while also improving the environmental health of the community," Kiser explains. "We encourage more communities to take Louisville's lead and make these important investments."

According to the TurfMutt Foundation, here are the top five reasons why communities should invest in urban living landscapes for "public backyarding" activities:

The physical health of your community benefits. Researchers from USDA found associations between urban green space exposure and decreased mortality, heart rate, and violence. Visits to parks, community gardens, and other green spaces may lower city dwellers' use of medications for anxiety, insomnia, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma, according to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. 

Mental well-being goes up when there's more green space exposure. People who visited urban parks for just 21 minutes showed a reduction in cortisol (stress hormone) levels and reported increased well-being, according to a study conducted in Alabama.

Researchers found that even passive nature engagement (greenness around schools and in urban parks) has the potential to positively impact children's attention, mood and memory. Having nearby urban green space is positively linked to the development of pro-social behaviors in children and adolescents.

There are environmental benefits too. Urban green space helps mitigate heat islands, reduces storm water runoff, and improves air quality.

Some communities are finding creative ways to green their communities. These efforts include green roofs on Boston bus shelters, greening of neglected alleys in urban Detroit, and the creation of pocket parks in New York.

Planting more trees in cities could cut deaths from summer heat, according to a European study that shows increasing urban tree coverage to 30 percent can lower temperatures by as much as 32 degrees.

Financial benefits stem from green space. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the nation's urban canopies – which are home to an estimated 5.5 billion trees – provide roughly $18 billion in annual benefits through the removal of pollution from the air ($5.4 billion), carbon sequestration ($4.8 billion), reduced emissions ($2.7 billion), and improved energy efficiency in buildings ($5.4 billion). Also, according to research from the University of Washington, people shop more frequently, take longer shopping trips, and are willing to spend 12 percent more for goods in tree-lined commercial districts.

Green space reduces crime. According to an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, landscaping in vacant lots has been shown to reduce overall crime by more than 13 percent, reduce burglary by 22 percent, and decrease nuisance reports by 30 percent.

To find the studies referenced and to learn more, download the TurfMutt Foundation's International Backyarding Fact Book.

For more on the TurfMutt Foundation, visit TurfMutt.com or sign up for Mutt Mail, a monthly e-newsletter with backyarding tips and all the news from the TurfMutt Foundation here. Look for Mulligan the TurfMutt on the CBS Lucky Dog television show on Saturday mornings.

Media contact 
Debbi Mayster, Four Leaf PR on behalf of the TurfMutt Foundation, 240-988-6243, [email protected]

About the TurfMutt Foundation
TurfMutt, which celebrated its 15^th anniversary in 2024, was created by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute's (OPEI) TurfMutt Foundation and has reached more than 70 million children, educators and families since 2009. Championed by Foundation spokesdog, Mulligan the TurfMutt, and through education partners such as Scholastic, Discovery and Weekly Reader, TurfMutt has taught students and teachers how to "save the planet, one yard at a time." Today, TurfMutt is an official USGBC^® Education Partner and part of their global LEARNING LAB. TurfMutt has been an education resource at the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon Schools, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green Apple, the Center for Green Schools, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, the National Energy Education Development (NEED) project, Climate Change Live, Petfinder and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2017, the TurfMutt animated video series won the coveted Cynopsis Kids Imagination Award for Best Interstitial Series. TurfMutt's personal home habitat was featured in the 2017-2020 Wildlife Habitat Council calendars. In 2024, the Great Lawn at Louisville's award-winning Waterfront Park on the Ohio River was renamed the TurfMutt Foundation Great Lawn as part of a $1 million sponsorship. More information at www.TurfMutt.com.

SOURCE TurfMutt Foundation