News Releases
COLUMBIA, SC (April 23, 2012) – The I-126/Greystone Boulevard Interchange will be transformed into an enhanced green space today as part of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and The U.S. Conference of Mayors nationwide GRO1000 gardens and green spaces program. The City of Columbia, along with a host of philanthropic partners, will dedicate the new greenscape as a primary gateway and environmental education site for the City.
GRO1000 will establish 1,000 community gardens and green spaces in the U.S., Canada and Europe by 2018. The program is designed to help communities and its residents experience the benefits of community gardening and green spaces.
“Vibrant gardens and beautiful green spaces hold the unique potential to bring communities together and projects like this, along with our new Community Gardens program and 10,000 trees initiative, leverage that potential to enhance the overall quality of life within our city,” said Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. “This is something everybody can be proud of and, thanks to the work of so many, I am confident of the positive ripple effect it will have throughout our community.”
The Columbia GRO1000 kickoff event will take place at the I-126 Greystone Boulevard Interchange at 11 a.m. on April 23. Area volunteers will clear debris and plant flowers, trees and shrubs in the new enhanced green space. One deserving student will be presented with the ScottsMiracle-Gro Give Back To Gro Youth Gardener Award.
“Green spaces provide many benefits to our environment and communities, from purifying the air to serving as the front yard to a city,” said Chris Allen, President, Southeast Region, for ScottsMiracle-Gro. “We are proud to be partners with the City of Columbia in our shared mission to create more greenscapes in urban areas.”
The I-126/Greystone Boulevard Interchange beautification project will offer teaching opportunities to residents and visitors, who will see firsthand which native plants thrive in the soil and how composting aids gardening. The nearby Riverbanks Zoo and Garden’s “ComPOOst” program will support the Interchange project with the use of all-natural, composted zoo-animal waste as a soil amendment in the green space.
GRO1000 Columbia was made possible through the combined efforts of local partners, including the City of Columbia, along with national partners including, The U.S. Conference of Mayors, ScottsMiracle-Gro, Plant A Row for the Hungry, the National Gardening Association, the Garden Writers Association and Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The Columbia GRO1000 event is one of several public installation events being held in the U.S., Canada and Europe in 2012.
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About ScottsMiracle-Gro
With approximately $3 billion in worldwide sales, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Scotts Company LLC, is the world's largest marketer of branded consumer products for lawn and garden care. The Company's brands are the most recognized in the industry. In the U.S., the Company's Scotts®, Miracle-Gro® and Ortho® brands are market-leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup® brand, which is marketed in North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto. In Europe, the Company's brands include Weedol®, Pathclear®, Evergreen®, Levington®, Miracle-Gro®, KB®, Fertiligene® and Substral®. For additional information, visit us at www.scotts.com.
Contacts:
Su Lok
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
937-578-5169 (office)
937-309-5616 (mobile)
Mayor’s Office of Communications
803-545-3039
