California goes green—ish?

California goes green—ish?

The rain in Spain may be falling on the plain, but not on California’s plain, leaving area yards brown and crusty.

One entrepreneur’s solution comes straight from the Pantone color book: painting the lawn grass-green. Amid the record-setting drought, homeowners yearning for the appearance of verdant grass are hiring workers with spray-paint nozzles to dye their turf. For less than $400—not much more than a regular water bill these days—one satisfied customer hailed the instant, albeit temporary, solution. All the green, none of the water.

—Diane Richard, writer, September 10

Image: David Walter Banks for The New York Times

Source: Jennifer Medina, “Seeing Discolored Lawns, California Businesses Apply Dab of Green,” The New York Times, August 31, 2014