Madison, Georgia – September 8, 2008 – Since the introduction of Pennington Smart Seed last spring, sprinklers and irrigation systems are pumping a lot less water on lawns and landscapes across the country. Millions of homeowners are planting and over seeding their lawns with Pennington Smart Seed, the first line of exclusive, eco-friendly grass seed varieties that require up to 30% less water to grow thick and healthy turf.

The average landscape requires 10,000 gallons of water in addition to annual rainfall to keep it green. Add up all the landscapes in the U.S., and that’s nearly eight billion gallons of water every day. Pennington Smart Seed is helping homeowners and landscapers nationwide save millions of gallons one lawn at a time.

One homeowner can conserve up to 3,000 gallons of water a year with a Pennington Smart Seed lawn. If every homeowner across Georgia planted Smart Seed, as much as 6.6 billion gallons of water could be saved every year. Homeowners in North Carolina could conserve as much as 6.8 billion gallons; California a staggering 20.4 billion gallons; New York an impressive 9.6 billion gallons; Illinois more than 8.4 billion gallons, and more than 4.9 billion in Tennessee. Nationwide, that’s a potential savings of nearly 210 billion gallons of water every year.

Lawns and landscapes play a critical environmental role nationally in improving air quality, reducing the effects of urban heat, and providing erosion and flood control. Pennington Smart Seed delivers all the benefits of thick, green turf and requires a fraction of the water necessary to sustain a traditional lawn.

“The grass just got greener for homeowners who want a thick, healthy lawn and who want to help the earth even more by conserving water,” explained Ronnie Stapp, executive vice president of Pennington Seed, America’s largest grass seed producer and packager dedicated to the research and development of greener solutions for lawns. “Pennington Smart Seed represents the next generation of grass seed, which is capable of delivering the beautiful lawns we all enjoy and need with far less water.”

“Pennington Seed has really taken the lead in a green movement toward environmentally friendly lawns and turf management,” said Dr. Mike Amaranthus, a leading soil scientist and the founder of Mycorrhizal Applications, which worked exclusively with Pennington on the development of Pennington Smart Seed. “Homeowners can now truly make a difference by simply putting this groundbreaking smart turf to work in their own lawns.”

Pennington Smart Seed is designed to help Americans conserve millions of gallons of water per year one lawn at a time.

Pennington Smart Seed is available at major lawn and garden and home improvement retailers nationwide.

For more information about Pennington Smart Seed, access to the Smart Seed press kit complete with high resolution photographs, or to calculate how smart your lawn is, visit www.smartseed.com.

About Pennington and Central Garden & Pet

Founded in 1945, Pennington Seed is the largest packager of grass seed in the world. The company is also a leading marketer, manufacturer and distributor of lawn, residential and professional turf grass, garden, turf care, forage grasses, wildlife, and birdseed products. For more information, visit www.penningtonseed.com.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet Company is a leading innovator, marketer and producer of quality branded products for the pet and lawn and garden supplies markets. Our lawn and garden products include grass seed, wild bird food, weed and insect control products, decorative outdoor patio products and ant control products. These products are sold under a number of brand names, including Pennington, Norcal Pottery, New England Pottery, GKI/Bethlehem Lighting, Lilly Miller, Matthews Four Seasons, AMDRO and Grant’s. For additional information on Central Garden & Pet, visit www.central.com.