(Beyond Pesticides, July 13, 2011) Millions of dollars’ worth of Norway spruce and white pine trees are mysteriously turning brown and dying this summer, and the chief suspect is a new lawn chemical. The product, Imprelis, a new herbicide manufactured by DuPont, is suspected by State officials and lawn care professionals who say they think [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 8, 2011) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a decision stating that it does not consider a new type of genetically engineered (GE) turf grass to be subject to federal regulations. In the decision announced by the USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the agency stated that it [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 1, 2011) Municipalities in Canada can continue to restrict cosmetic uses of pesticides on their lawns in spite of the settlement of a closely watched trade case, according to Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast. The province of Quebec and Dow AgroSciences settled a $2-million (U.S.) lawsuit stemming from Quebec’s 2006 ban of [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 5, 2011) Over 70 international organizations, including health and environmental groups, landscapers and farmers are proclaiming tomorrow, Friday, May 6, 2011, Lawn Pesticide Awareness Day in honor of Dr. June Irwin’s leading role in passage of North America’s first lawn pesticide ban in Hudson, Quebec, on May 6, 1991. “The town of [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 3, 2011) Beyond Pesticides is pleased to announce the launch of its YouTube Channel. Officially launched this week, the channel features keynote presentations and panel sessions from Beyond Pesticides’ 29th National Pesticide Forum held April 2011 at the Colorado School of Public Health in Aurora, CO. The videos serve as an educational [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 30, 2011) The Maryland House of Delegates passed the Fertilizer Use Act of 2011 (HB 573) on March 23 to limit ferilizer use on lawns, while a new report published by Environment Maryland Research and Policy Center finds that turf grass management, not agriculture, is the leading cause of fertilizer-based nitrogen runoff [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 2, 2011) A bill that would make the state of New Jersey a national leader in banning pesticides on all school grounds was passed in a Senate environment committee Monday with unanimous bi-partisan support. The measure, dubbed The Child Safe Playing Field Act, would prohibit the use of most lawn pesticides on [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 31, 2011) A bill introduced in the Connecticut legislature will, if passed, allow municipalities to ban and regulate the use of lawn care pesticides, overturning a state preemption law which currently prohibits local governments from imposing pesticide restrictions on private property. Currently, 41 states, including Connecticut, prohibit local jurisdictions from restricting pesticides. [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 4, 2010) Several coastal towns in Maine, concerned about water contamination and the potential for the effects on aquatic life, have adopted restrictions on lawn chemicals. Pesticide opponents praise towns for cutting back on pesticide use but say that a ban on private use would make a bigger difference. Ogunquit is among [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 16, 2010) Under pressure from the grassroots group Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), the city of Anchorage canceled plans to spray the herbicides 2,4-D and dicamba on the Town Square Park citing concerns over the safety of children playing in the park. ACAT members attended the Anchorage Assembly public meeting with [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 9, 2010) Residents of New York now have new assistance in maintaining beautiful, green lawns, plants and trees without the use of toxic chemicals. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has initiated the ‘Be Green Organic Yard NY” program, where participating ‘Be Green’ businesses agree to avoid synthetic pesticides and [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 21, 2010) Governor Patterson of New York signed the Child Safe Playing Field Act into law on Tuesday, marking a huge victory for grassroots environmental and human health groups. The law helps to protect children by banning the use of pesticides on school playing fields and play grounds. Schools will have one [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 17, 2010) The City of Evanston in Cook County, Illinois has passed a resolution to reduce pesticide use on City-owned and leased property (buildings and grounds) when the City Council unanimously adopted the “Sustainable Pest Control and Pesticide Reduction Policy” on April 26, 2010. The policy requires City employees, agents and contractors [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 12, 2010) Disturbed to learn that an advisory committee in his community in Boulder, Colorado had approved two new herbicides for use on city parks, a 9-year-old environmental activist organized a group of some two dozen children to protest the potential use of the herbicides in front of the Boulder County Courthouse [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 10, 2010) The environmentally friendly ladybug is alive and well in Ocean Township, New Jersey, thanks to a newly adopted Township resolution that declares parks, playgrounds, and fields as “Pesticide Free Zones;” requires Township property to be managed with Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a program that manages and prevents pests using environmental [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 7, 2010) Although the city stopped using chemical pesticides in much of its public spaces nearly four decades ago, village officials expect to pass a resolution prohibiting their use on public property, including parks, fields and playgrounds. The hope is that the local law, once publicized, will have a trickle-down effect on [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 5, 2010) Baseball should be green, not sending a toxic green message to homeowners. The first pitch of the new baseball season will be thrown this week under a cloud created by Major League Baseball’s (MLB) new partnership with Scotts Miracle-Gro, which promotes seed and treatment products that are unnecessarily chemical-intensive and [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 23, 2010) On March 22, 2010 the environmental health group Grassroots Environmental Education released a report comparing the relative costs of maintaining a typical high school football field using a chemical-intensive program and a natural (organic) program over a five-year period. The report, prepared for members of the New York State legislature, [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 16, 2010) The New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a measure last week to study the passage of a bill, HB 1456, that would establish a New Hampshire General Court committee to study the use of pesticides and their alternatives in areas where children may be exposed. Yes, that’s right; they passed [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 15, 2010) A coalition of environmental groups is chastising in a letter to Major League Baseball its new alliance with Scotts Miracle-Gro because it says the chemical and seed company undermines sound environmental values by promoting turf management programs that are unnecessarily chemical-intensive. Scotts introduced newly branded products, which it will promote [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 25, 2010) To include more grassroots activists and community members in Greening the Community: Green economy, organic environments and healthy people, Beyond Pesticides announced a new $25 “recession rate.” The conference, Beyond Pesticides’ 28th National Pesticide Forum, will be held April 9-10 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. To take [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 5, 2010) While there are many great reasons for “green” spaces in urban areas, a new study has found that conventional landscaping practices are actually causing greenhouse gas emissions at a rate up to four times greater than the lawn’s ability to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. The study, [...]