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MARYSVILLE, Ohio, April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG), the industry leader in lawn and garden products, today released its 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, its first following the transparent Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 framework. The 2011 report provides a detailed look at the company's sustainability priorities, goals, challenges, and achievements, as well as its product innovation and community-based initiatives.

The report, which is entirely web-based, can be found at GroGood.com, a new online platform where consumers and other stakeholders can learn about ScottsMiracle-Gro's broad corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts. "GroGood" encompasses the company's vision to help people of all ages express themselves on their own piece of the Earth, and includes sustainability, corporate partnerships, garden and green space initiatives and associate engagement in the workplace and in communities around the world.

"I'm proud of our associates around the world who work every day to ensure we are earning the trust of consumers, who are at the heart of our business," said Jim Hagedorn, chairman and chief executive officer of ScottsMiracle-Gro, who is featured in an introductory video within the report content. "Working with a sustainable mindset is a business imperative for our company's growth and also as we contribute to the communities in which we live and work. While we are proud of our progress, we also know we can do more in some areas, and we point that out in this report."

One area of success highlighted in the report is that the company is on track to meet a commitment made in 2011 to help advance water quality initiatives by removing phosphorus from nearly all of its lawn fertilizer maintenance products, including its market-leading Turf Builder brand. This initiative was a direct result of collaboration between the company and water quality stakeholders in numerous regions of the United States. The report also outlines the company's success in reducing the overall environmental footprint from its operations, including its Scotts LawnService business, and in more sustainable sourcing of peat used in its growing media products, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Additionally, Hagedorn, in his CEO Message video, says that even though ScottsMiracle-Gro's position as the largest marketer of organic lawn and garden products continues to increase, the company is partnering with leading companies and key stakeholders to increase its innovation in natural and organic products to meet future consumer expectations.

Hagedorn added: "Sustainability is an essential pillar in ScottsMiracle-Gro's vision for the future and our strategic growth. We are committed to continually embracing sustainability in our business and bringing the benefits of gardens and green spaces to consumers and communities around the world."

Sustainability Driven by Purpose, Product Innovation, Partnerships

The 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report lays out a series of sustainability goals, including:

• Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent between FY 2010 and the end of FY 2018, normalized annually by net sales
• Reducing the weight of waste sent to landfills by 50 percent by the end of FY 2018 normalized annually by net sales
• Eliminating phosphorus in lawn food maintenance products by the end of 2012
• Including 30 percent recycled and renewable content in overall packaging by 2018

Additionally, ScottsMiracle-Gro has established multi-year partnerships with major universities to engage leading experts to advance product development and lawn maintenance best practices:

• Michigan State University and ScottsMiracle-Gro are sponsoring a study on the environmental, economic and social benefits of lawns in urban areas
• Rutgers University and ScottsMiracle-Gro are cooperating on turf science research related to drought tolerance
• Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and ScottsMiracle-Gro are collaborating on the construction of a new facility for turfgrass education and supporting the development of key research programs in the areas of turfgrass, water efficiency and environmentally sustainable pest controls

Committed to Caring for Our Environment, Communities and People

The Corporate Responsibility Report also provides an overview of the company's progressive waste management strategy, which has driven success in key areas:

• "Zero waste to landfill" at four of ScottsMiracle-Gro's facilities around the globe to date
• Approximately 5 billion pounds of beneficially reused material -- such as rice hulls, paper mill waste, agave compost, yard waste and coconut coir -- were used in ScottsMiracle-Gro products in 2011, all of which were locally sourced from 100 miles of the company's production facilities

ScottsMiracle-Gro's commitment to supporting gardens and green spaces in communities, and neighborhoods around the U.S. is also highlighted in the report. The company's investment in community-based greening includes:

• Partnering with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to achieve the company's goal of supporting 1,000 community gardens and green spaces by the end of 2018
• Installing therapy gardens to help those returning from war deal with traumatic stress
• Supporting programs at the U.S. Botanical Garden's National Garden, the New York Botanical Garden, The Riverwood Conservancy in Ontario, and the Orange County Great Park in California
• Continuing its Plant A Row for the Hungry initiative with the Garden Writers Association, which encourages gardeners to plant an extra row of produce to donate to local food banks

For more information about ScottsMiracle-Gro, visit http://www.scottsmiraclegro.com/. Submit questions and provide feedback by emailing. sustainability@scotts.com. In addition, follow the company's CR efforts on Twitter @SMG_GroGood.

About The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
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, with products for professional horticulture as well. 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 the U.S., we operate Scotts LawnService®, the second largest residential lawn care service business. Visit us at www.scotts.com.

SOURCE The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company