Agricultural Resources Center
(NC)
Defenders
of Wildlife
Beyond
Pesticides
Environment
& Human Health, Inc.
Facts about Alternatives to Chemical Trespassing, Inc. (FACT)
Grassroots Environmental Education
Greater Madison Healthy Lawn Team
Marin
Beyond Pesticides Coalition
Michigan Environmental Council
New
Jersey Environmental Federation
Northeast
Organic Farming Association of Connecticut
Northeast
Organic Farming Association of New Jersey
Northwest
Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides
Pesticide
Action Network North America
Project
Ladybug
Safer
Pest Control Project
Salem Pesticide Association
Texans
for Alternatives to Pesticides
Toxics
Action Center
Toxics Information Project
Washington
Toxics Coalition
The Watershed Partnership
Welcome to the National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns
Join
the National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns by signing
the Declaration and joining in grassroots actions to educate your community
– including landscapers and policy makers - about the unacceptable
hazards of lawn chemicals. Over
1000 Signatories as of April 17, 2007!- Read the Grassroots Action - March/April 2008 issue
- Order Safe Lawn Doorhangers - 25,000 distributed across the country!
- Order a Pesticide-Free Zone Sign - the Coalition's uniting symbol.
- Find Your Local Group - Find Coalition Members in Your State and region.
- Are You A Service Provider? We see pesticide-free lawns as a business opportunity, not a threat. Learn how we promote business opportunity.
The world is rapidly changing and with it are perspectives on the use of toxic lawn chemicals and the hazards they pose to our children, families, neighbors, wildlife, and drinking water sources.
Public concern over the potential hazards associated with chemical lawn care products and services has been on a steady rise. And with good reason. Some 100 million pounds of pesticides are used by homeowners in homes and gardens each year, even more when commercial companies are added in. Suburban lawns and gardens are known to receive far heavier pesticide applications per acre than most other land areas in the U.S., including agricultural areas.
Studies show that these hazardous lawn chemicals are drifting into our homes where they contaminate indoor air and surfaces, exposing children at levels ten times higher than preapplication levels.
Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides, 19 are linked with cancer or carcinogencity, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 15 with neurotoxicity, and 11 with disruption of the endocrine (hormonal) system.
Of those same 30 lawn pesticides, 17 are detected in groundwater, 23 have the ability to leach into drinking water sources, 24 are toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms vital to our ecosystem, 11 are toxic to bees, and 16 are toxic to birds. With numbers like this, the only logical question becomes: is this really necessary and what can we do to stop or prevent this kind of contamination?
Members of the National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns are working to halt senseless exposure to lawn pesticides and to educate the public, landscapers, and policy makers on the use of non-toxic and least-toxic lawn care practices and products. Change begins at local level. The public plays an extremely important role in lawn pesticide reform – not only in the way it perceives the use of toxic pesticides in homes and communities but also in the way it demands safe alternatives from retailers, organic services from lawn care providers, and better protection from pesticide exposure from local policy makers.