18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

Prototypical answer:

OVERVIEW
As one of the most popular activities in the United States, gardening has an incredibly diverse following amongst both professional and amateur gardeners, making the creation of a .GARDEN top-level domain a desirable business decision. The overall of the .GARDEN gTLD is to give gardeners of all experience levels the ability to share ideas, methods, tips, and best-practices of gardens and gardening skills and to provide a meaningfull domain for those involved in the commercial aspects of gardening.

GARDENS, FOOD, AND OTHER STATISTICS
In the 1940s, over 40% of the vegetables consumed were produced in private gardens. (Source: http:⁄⁄opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com⁄2011⁄03⁄22⁄food-six-things-to-feel-good-about⁄?ref=urbanagriculture) This number slowly dropped until a recent resurgence of urban agriculture. According to the EPA, urban agriculture “takes the form of backyard, rooftop and balcony gardening, community gardening in vacant lots and parks, roadside urban fringe agriculture and livestock grazing in open space.” Currently, 15% of the world’s food is now grown in urban areas. (Source: http:⁄⁄www.epa.gov⁄brownfields⁄urbanag⁄frequent.htm)

While gardeners come in all shapes and sizes, some trends have become apparent when looking at gardening in the United States. As of 2009, the ratio of male to female gardeners was fairly even, with 54% of all gardeners female. Gardening is more likely to become a profession or a hobby among people with college educations, with 79% of all gardeners a college graduate or having some college. Additionally, gardening is largely popular in older demographics, with 68% of all gardeners over the age of 45. (Source: http:⁄⁄www.mnn.com⁄sites⁄default⁄files⁄user-71⁄home_gardening_infographic_0.jpg)

The regional breakdown of gardeners is fairly even, with 23% of all gardeners in the West, 26% in the Midwest, 29% in the South, and 22% in the Northeast. In 2008 over 36 million households (31% of all households in the U.S.) had food gardens, with that number growing to 43 million households in 2009, a 21% growth over one year. In those gardens, an average of $70 was spent on growing a garden, with an estimated $600 return, creating a $530 return on investment. (Source: http:⁄⁄www.mnn.com⁄sites⁄default⁄files⁄user-71⁄home_gardening_infographic_0.jpg)

MISSION AND PURPOSE
Gardening benefits both from being a utilitarian activity and an art form; a community exists based on the common interest in gardening and on the sharing of methods, tips, knowledge, and expertise built on years of experience. This community is incredibly open and excited to share knowledge with people interested in beginning a garden.

.GARDEN aims to offer existing and amateur gardeners, as well as non-gardeners interested in beginning a garden, the opportunity to better connect with one another and create a system of support for the passing of gardening knowledge.

PUBLIC BENEFIT
The .GARDEN domain will help encourage gardeners share their knowledge with the world, increasing the consumption of healthy food and the prevalence of stress-reducing greenspace.

Similar gTLD applications: (0)