Actress, film producer, entrepreneur, talk show host and now co-creative director of Instead – a new natural lawn care program – Drew Barrymore continues to inspire us with her many creative talents. With a long history of devotion to the outdoors and living sustainably, we met Drew to talk about the importance of having a lush lawn and getting closer to the outdoors for her and her family.
“Your lawn is your new living room”
So you said you were a Californian girl at heart and that you had spent much of your life in your yard. Have you noticed that you have been spending more time in your yard since the pandemic started?
“Yes, my new quote that I just came up with today. So it feels like we’ve designed the campaign like your lawn is your new living room.
I also think I grew up in California, but I moved to Manhattan and then I didn’t have a lawn. I’ve since been lucky enough to get another one to garden in, but I think they don’t go without saying and if you’re lucky enough to have any lawn you need to make it part of your living space .
The pandemic has definitely changed my view of everything, but I just wish I had been a more environmentally conscious person twenty years ago when the alarm bells rang. And I love that this generation is going to hold us accountable because I wish someone had held us accountable twenty years ago, and I feel really empowered by all the options that come our way.
I’m obsessed with this company – instead of turf – I love their business model, I love the delivery. There is spring, summer and autumn, there is lightness and humor in the campaign, there is only kindness here, and that’s how I’m on board. I want to scream over them from the rooftops. ‘
“I started a vegetable garden and we grew our own vegetables.”
Aside from your lawn looking amazing where there have been major or even tiny improvements to your outdoor area in the past year, has that made a really big difference?
“Yes, we raised six baby chickens. And now we’re eating her eggs, we’re so in love with her and I started a vegetable garden and we grew our own vegetables and lettuce and herbs and tomatoes and it was amazing.
I grew eggplants and I didn’t think it was possible before. I’ve really got into creating this outside space and when other things disappear from your life new things come in. For me it was gardening and I planted my own lawn and sowed it so I’m all in now. I think I didn’t have the confidence beforehand, or maybe even the time.
(Image Credit: Lawn Maintenance Instead x Drew Barrymore)
“I think nature is so emblematic”
Would you say you have a green thumb now?
“Somehow yes. I just didn’t have the time and space before. And like I said when it was all gone, I thought about how wonderful it would be to just get into nature and how calming it is for the senses. We were all so scared and nature just brought me back to a healthier, more peaceful place and I think nature is so emblematic too. It has to go, it has to hibernate, it has to look kind of weird, and then it blooms again and is reborn, and it felt the way we have all experienced it on this globe. ‘
“I pick up chickens all the time!”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It sounds like your kids are pretty excited too. Are you pretty much involved in everything you do? I mean you must love the chickens?
“Yes, we are obsessed with our chickens, we love our chickens, I love our chickens! And I am now obsessed with eating their eggs, and they are really fun. They were a little easier than I ever imagined, but I’m far too connected to them. ‘
You wouldn’t think you could pick up a chicken and just pet it, but you can, it’s crazy.
“Yeah, I pick up chickens all the time!”
“I think I’ve always been connected to nature since I grew up in California.”
You mentioned wishing you had felt more environmentally conscious twenty years ago. Was there anything growing up in West Hollywood that inspired you to live more sustainably or to have that connection with nature?
“It really wasn’t like that, there just wasn’t the right message. The messaging was also very disastrous, I just turned my head away from it. At some point I realized how bad and important it all was.
[Now] All of these companies say we’re all going to be electric, we’re going to be, it’s like God where it was twenty years ago. But at least it’s here now. I think you have to be inspired, it’s the way forward. For now, I just want to work with companies that are going to change the game. And I also think that the way we live and eat, how we grow and plant, has been very chemical and we need to turn away from it.
But now it’s there, I’m just trying to take a new approach with new eyes to everything I do as a parent, as a person, as a business person, as a person who works for companies … I look at everything with new ones Eyes. ‘
“We got a little trampoline during the pandemic and they’re on it all the time.”
What are the most important things you think a garden should have, especially if you have children?
“As many things are physical to them as monkey bars, monkey bars – they are the most difficult things in the world, I can’t do them as an adult – swings, bicycles, horseshoes or hopscotch.
We got a little trampoline during the pandemic and they are with us all the time. Anything keeping your kids active and wanting to go to sleep at night is like a miracle. ‘
“I wish I had an outside kitchen, that would be great.”
It is clear that you are prioritizing sustainability in your garden, but in terms of furnishing any outdoor living space that you have or have Outdoor kitchens Were there holidays or certain movie sets where the outdoors inspired you to create a certain feeling in your garden / yard?
“By the way, I wish I had an outside kitchen, that would be great.”
It’s the dream isn’t it?
‘Oh my god yes. I think this summer I’m going to get a slip-n-slide, that’s that ridiculous yellow plastic wrap that you lie in and stick your garden hose in, and then your kids do a go-ahead and hurl themselves at it, that’s my summer plan it to get a slip-n-slide. ‘
“My big goal this summer is to have a nice lawn and let the kids do slip-n-slides.”
I think this is a reasonable summer plan.
“Yes, my big goal this summer is to have a nice lawn and let the kids do slip-n-slides. Maybe I need to rock one of those old school sprinklers too, the kind that fan back and forth and that kids love to run through. ‘
Sure, and they’ll catch you when you least expect it.
“Yes, that’s how I want to be this summer: sprinklers and slip-n-slides and just outside on the lawn. And not just because it’s a lawn care company, that’s really my goal. Especially now that I live on the east coast, I live through the seasons so I really want to maximize summer – spring and summer. ‘
We fully agree with this 🌞
- With special thanks to Drew Barrymore and lawn care instead – trailblazers for natural, lush and uncomplicated lawns everywhere.
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