Lying to the EPA

The Scotts Miracle-Gro company has agreed to pay millions of dollars in criminal fines for misleading the public, lying to the EPA and knowingly contaminating their bird seed products with pesticides known to be toxic to birds.

Professional applicators and homeowners using pesticides are more aware than ever about the potentially serious health effects of pesticides, in humans, pets and wildlife. Because of this, many more people are reading warning labels on pesticide products and trying to use them responsibly. When a product manufacturer lies about such inherently dangerous products, it is truly a criminal act.

Last week, Scotts Miracle-Gro pleaded guilty to eleven criminal violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The $12.5 million dollar fine was the largest criminal penalty under FIFRA to date. Scotts admitted falsifying pesticide registration documents, selling pesticides with misleading and unapproved labels and distributing unregistered pesticides, in addition to applying toxic and potentially lethal insecticides to its wild bird food products.

Although everyone should avoid pesticide exposures, children, pregnant women and the chronically ill are particularly vulnerable. Children take in more pesticides relative to their body weight than adults and have immature organ systems that are more vulnerable and less able to detoxify the chemicals contained in pesticides. They are also disproportionately exposed because of their behavior, playing in the grass and on floors and engaging in typical hand- to -mouth behavior. Childhood malignancies associated with living in households where pesticides are used include neuroblastoma, Wilm's tumor, Ewing's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and cancers of the brain, colorectum and testes.

Along with other environmental health groups, we work very hard to educate the public about the links between common environmental toxins and human health and encourage non-toxic solutions to pest problems whenever possible. If someone decides to use a pesticide, the label should clearly indicate proper handling as well as the potential short term and long term health effects of the product even when used according to the label. It is highly irresponsible for a manufacturer of these poisons to ignore or even intentionally challenge federal laws intended to protect the public.

Thank You, New York!

Today is a historic and fantastic day for the kids of New York, although chances are few of them know it. Today, the Child Safe Playing Fields Act goes into effect in the state, prohibiting the use of pesticides on school grounds at all schools, public and private, up to grade 12, and including daycare centers.

To celebrate the occasion, Patti and I visited legislators in Albany yesterday to thank them for their hard work on this issue, and congratulate them for doing such a great job. The New York legislation is a model for all states. As the song says, "If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere."

Here's Patti talking with the two prime sponsors of the bill, Assemblymen Steve Englebright and Robert Sweeney. The poster in Sweeney's hand is the "Thank You, New York" poster we created, which was signed by almost every environmental and health organization in the state. You can see the full-resolution poster here.

The Organic Lawn Mindset

Several years ago we started our award-winning “Grassroots Healthy Lawn Program,” designed to increase both the demand for organic lawn services and the supply of trained professionals who can deliver those services. Over the past few years, hundreds of landscapers and turf managers in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts have gone through our two-day intensive course.

So naturally, we’re delighted that the demand for organic lawn care has skyrocketed as the public has become increasingly aware of the dangers posed by typical lawn chemicals, especially for children, pets and pregnant women.

But there’s also bad news: some of the landscapers offering organic lawn care services don’t really “get it.” Worse, some of them don’t even believe it!

Organic lawn care is based on the principle that if we create the best possible environment for grass to grow, nature’s own systems will take care of most of the problems that plague chemically-maintained lawns. What’s the best defense against weeds? A thick, healthy lawn. How do you discourage crabgrass? Adjust your soil pH to 6.8. Got a yard full of broadleaf plantain? You need to aerate your soil.

So if you’re a landscaper who has spent his entire career believing that lawn care is a battle between you and pests, and that your primary job is to kill them, then you’ll probably never succeed in organic lawn care. Unfortunately, most university turf and agricultural research programs are heavily funded by chemical companies whose products are primarily designed to kill pests.

If you’re looking for an organic landscaper, find one who has been through the Grassroots Healthy Lawn program, the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) 5-day Course, or the course offered by the Nature Lyceum. At least you can be sure they’ve studied with people who get it.

The ChildSafe School Part I

It's hard to remember exactly how it got started. Like any parents, we were concerned about the health and safety of our kids, and how they were being affected by chemicals in the environment. At home we ate organic food, maintained our lawn without pesticides, avoided things like fabric softeners and chemical air fresheners, and used natural cleaning products. But once our kids got to school, we knew someone else was making decisions that affected their environment. What did they know?

Not much, as it turned out. Our first brush with toxins at school was with the friendly groundskeeper at the elementary school where Patti and a few parents had started a school garden. One day he casually volunteered to spray the perimeter of the garden with pesticides to kill the weeds. A few minutes later Patti was in the Principal's office discussing why pesticides were being used at our kids' school. That night around the dining room table she wrote the first ChildSafe school policy prohibiting pesticides on fields and grounds. Today it's the law in New York State!