Here’s the primer:

LAWNS AND SAFETY

The industry that manufactures and applies synthetic chemical pesticides (weed-killers, insecticides and fungicides) hides behind EPA blessing of its products, suggesting that such approval by the Environmental Protection Agency is proof that their pesticides are safe when used as directed. The reality is that EPA approval is NOT a finding of safety, but rather it is a risk-benefit analysis of health and environmental risks weighed against economic benefits. In most cases, those risks and benefits are borne by differing members of society. In other words, the chemical companies and applicators get the money and the homeowners, ponds, lakes, rivers, oceans etc. bear the risks. The EPA approves some incredibly dangerous products, most of which have never been fully tested for safety — and only real testing is done by the manufacturers themselves. The EPA needs to receive loads of complaints about a product before it engages in its own testing.

LAWNS AND HEALTH

Seventeen of 32 (53 percent) of the most commonly registered and utilized lawn pesticide products in the United States include ingredients that are likely carcinogens, as defined by the EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Thirteen of 32 (41 percent) of the approved lawn pesticide products include ingredients that are banned or restricted in other countries due to their health and environmental impacts.

According to the Material Safety Data Sheets of the most commonly used lawn pesticides, the products can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat; burning, stinging, itches, rashes, and blistering of the skin; nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; and coughing, wheezing, headache, and general malaise. Because these symptoms are similar or identical to those caused by other illnesses, acute pesticide poisoning is often misdiagnosed.

Pesticide exposure occurs through numerous pathways, including the skin, eyes, ears, nose and mouth — all areas where children are particularly sensitive.

The National Academy of Sciences estimates that one in 7 adults suffers acute symptoms of pesticide poisoning (such as those symptoms listed above) — most of which are not diagnosed.

Exposure to pesticides is also linked with chronic illness, such as cancer, behavioral impairment, reproductive dysfunction, endocrine disruption, developmental disabilities, ADHD, Autism, Parkinson’s Syndrome, learning disabilities, skin conditions, and respiratory diseases such as asthma.

A National Cancer Institute study states that, “although research is underway to characterize the risks of childhood cancer associated with pesticides and identify the specific pesticides responsible, it is prudent to reduce or, where possible, eliminate pesticide exposure to children, given their increased vulnerability and susceptibility. In particular, efforts should be focused to reduce exposure to pesticides used in homes and gardens and on lawns and public lands, which are major sources of exposure for most children.

A number of studies have linked lawn pesticides to childhood illnesses:

a) A University of Southern California study showed that children whose parents used garden pesticides were 6.5 times more likely to develop leukemia.

b) According to EPA’s Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment, children receive 50 percent of their lifetime cancer risks in the first two years of life.

c) Children with brain cancer are more likely to have been exposed to insecticides in the home.

d) Children in families that use professional pest control services are at higher risk of developing leukemia than children in families that don’t use pesticides.

e) A 1990 study by the US Congress Office of Technology Assessment concluded that “in general, [human health] research demonstrates that pesticide poisoning can lead to poor performance on tests including intellectual functioning, academic skills, abstraction, flexibility of thought, and motor skills; memory disturbances and inability to focus attention; deficits in intelligence, reaction time, and manual dexterity; and reduced perceptual speed. Increased anxiety and emotional problems have also been reported.”

A US EPA study found that residues from outdoor pesticides are tracked in by pets and people’s shoes, and can increase the pesticide loads in carpet dust as much as 400-fold. These pesticides, intended for outdoor use, will persist for years indoors because they are sheltered from sun, rain and other forces that can degrade them.

Another study, published in November 2003 by the Silent Spring Institute, which was funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, showed that residents may be continuously exposed to dangerous levels of pesticides in their home decades after application.

Recently, an “inert” ingredient in the most common lawn pesticide product known as Roundup was found to kill human cells. The French government sued the manufacturer of Roundup for making improper safety claims about Roundup.

LAWN TRENDS

Canada has announced it will ban weed ’n feed nationwide by the end of 2012. This ban was seen as a compromise between Health Canada and the pesticide industry, which agreed that weed ’n feed products put excess amounts of pesticides in the environment.

More than 80 percent of the Canadian population has banned “cosmetic” herbicides used to kill dandelions, clover etc. on lawns. Most major Canadian retailers including Home Depot have stopped selling herbicides and have committed to selling alternatives.

The states of New York and Connecticut banned the applications of lawn pesticides around schools and daycare centers.

More than 35 municipalities in New Jersey have enacted bans of synthetic lawn pesticides on public property.

In its 9-0 landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Canada invoked “The Precautionary Principle” with regard to pesticides. The Precautionary Principles means that, even in situations where there is not absolute proof of harm in all cases, precaution should be taken to protect the environment and human health.

The National Gardening Association data shows that 10 percent of consumers are currently utilizing exclusively organic products; that total is expected to grow to 50 percent of the marketplace by 2014.

ORGANIC ALTERNATIVES
The efficacy and understanding of organic products has increased dramatically in the past five years; several new organic products have entered the market in just the past three years, including a natural “selective” herbicide that can replace the most toxic chemicals.

Canadian landscapes that have been grown without pesticides for years are still beautiful. Mayors and town managers have reported a reduction in costs for mowing, watering, fertilizing and pesticide applications.

LAWNS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

All 32 of the most common lawn pesticide products include ingredients that pose threats to the environment, including: threats to water supplies, birds, fish, other aquatic organisms, and non-targeted insects.

The National Academy of Sciences estimates that homeowners utilize 10 times the amount of fertilizer and pesticides per acre of lawn and landscape than do farmers.

In 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency completed a nationwide survey of pesticides in wells that provide drinking water. It showed that more than half of the 94,000 community water system wells and rural wells tested contained nitrates from fertilizer. Nearly 15 percent of residential wells contained lawn pesticides.

A Cornell University study led by Dr. David Pimentel concluded that 99.5 percent of pesticides do not hit the target pest when applied. The bulk of the pesticide hits or drifts to non-targeted plants, animals, water and soil.

The chemical mostly commonly used for grub control in lawns, known as imidacloprid, has been blamed for Colony Collapse Disorder in bees in France, Germany, Israel and many other nations. Many scientists and beekeepers in the U.S. have now reached the same conclusion.

COST

For years, the biggest limiting factor in lawn care was price; organics was typically 20 to 100 percent more expensive on action. These days, with the rising price of synthetic products tied to the fuel index, as well as the lowering cost of many organic products, the playing field has tipped in favor of organics — especially over time.

NOTEWORTHY

The New York Board of Pesticide Control estimates that 8 of 10 homeowners do NOT fully read the label on pesticide containers.

Dozens of health care organizations, including the Canadian Cancer Society, the Ontario College of Family Physicans and the Canadian Association of Physcians for the Environment, all endorse the Canadian bans on lawn pesticides.

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Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/02/why-ban-lawn-pesticides-the-list-of-reasons-keeps-growing/

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Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/01/ice-traction-aids-avoid-salt-on-lawns-and-plants/

The author of this note, for now, shall remain anonymous to protect her from the potential wrath of her neighbors and co-workers. But we applaud her for speaking out in the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that she can. It’s what we all need to do, isn’t it?

Hello Paul,
I give you a lot of credit for what you do. After I got cancer this June I was and am still stunned by our society and the use of pesticides. I know in my heart that some environmental toxin caused my cancer. I had always gotten my period every 28 days up until the age of 46. I skipped a month in March 2010 and then it was quite heavy. I cried, “Oh, no, I am in menopause,” but then my cycles resumed every 28 days until March or April came again in 2011. Menopause is not seasonal and March and April are when the lawn chemical trucks drive up and down the streets.

I have male neighbors who have prostate cancer directly across the street and even a 23-year-old who had testicular cancer at the end of the street. I spread the word to all of my immediate neighbors telling them not to use the lawn chemicals because they cause cancer and none of them listen. I have my neighbor directly next door who is a RN In oncology with the hospital that treated me. I printed out your article about Round Up and they wrote back: “Please leave us alone we don’t use lawn chemicals on your yard, and if you and your cat stayed off of ours there wouldn’t be a problem. We are not breaking the law and do not intrude on your lives, as you do ours. Stop harrassing us now! My oncologist at work says that using lawn chemicals in moderation is safe and we will continue to do so.”

For God sake I did not show them evidence from Bozo the clown that lawn chemicals are carcinogenic. I try to not only protect myself from exposure that could cause my cancer to reoccur, but I showed them the evidence to protect every man, woman, and child that does have exposure to it. I can’t begin to tell you the pain I felt because of this neighbor and the many others who are anti-social by all accounts.

Another neighbor — and you won’t believe this — had breast cancer surgery 14 years ago. She has had it in her bones for five years now. When I told her about the lawn chemicals she dismissed it and said her husband would continue to use them because “you can’t eliminate everything around you that causes cancer and live in a bubble.” I get livid and say having a green lawn is so nonessential and is it really worth it? And you know it’s not that you just decide for yourself that it’s the risk your willing to take. The biggest problem is when you use these chemicals you not only expose yourself but you expose everyone around you and anti-social behavior is defined as not having regard for the consequences of your actions or the impact of others.

I am not educated and I do not have a career, but if someone showed me evidence of pesticides causing cancer or relayed to me that they thought their breast cancer could have come from pesticides I would stop using them immediately.

Well, Paul, keep up the fight. I am sitting home today from my job as a lunch lady. I spoke up about the way some schools operate. The kids have to ask for the vegetable with their lunch versus the school just serving the vegetable in the first place. The food is awful to begin with, you know, heavily processed and all fat. Many kids don’t take the vegetable, but one day quite a few were and the cafeteria manager at the start of the eight-grade lunch started out with only four servings of broccoli. She said she typically didn’t sell that much — partly because they keep quiet and don’t offer vegetables because they want to make money selling the kids who are still hungry and buy snacks for purchase. In short, the school does not encourage the students to eat healthy and they make more money selling the snacks. Yes. Another example of “cheat the kids to make a buck.” When I was growing up I learned to eat healthy by example.

Well, my husband is a simple man, but he has a saying that I do like: “hell is only half full.” I said this before cancer and always taught my kids this as well. When you’re diagnosed with cancer you’re so shocked and scared of dying . . . and you don’t want to stand before God and have him ask: “I gave you this knowledge and this gift and what did you do with it?”

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Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2012/01/guest-blog-i-gave-you-this-knowledge-and-what-did-you-do-with-it/

Titled “Healthy Communities: Green solutions for safe environments,” the forum will be co-sponsored by numerous organizations including Environment Human Health Inc., and The Watershed Alliance at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The conference will focus on organic landcare, urban/suburban pesticide use, organic food, and protective national, state, and local policies.

Connecticut has been the nation’s most progressive state in terms of pesticide regulation, first adopting the Child Safe Playing Fields Act in 2005 and more recently announcing plans to look at overturning state pre-emption laws regarding pesticides. National chemical fertilizer and pesticide groups are aligning to turn back Connecticut’s environmental progress; the timing of Connecticut’s selection as the site of the forum was thrilling to local activists.

“This is very exciting news for sure,” said Nancy Alderman, the president of Environment and Human Health Inc. in an email to followers this morning. “Hopefully many of you will want to be part of this conference.”

Sessions will be held in the Yale School of Forestry Environmental Studies’ Kroon Hall, a sustainable building that showcases the latest developments in green building technology.

More details and registration information is available on the National Pesticide Forum webpage. If you’re interested in participating or attending, email John Kepner at jkepner@beyondpesticides.org.

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Monarda and a gentle giant carpenter bee~

There’s probably no other bee that arouses irritation quite like this gentle giant. Just search ‘carpenter bee’ and you will get hundreds of thousands of ‘results’ and almost all are about how to get rid of them.

I can hear you now! You’re wondering if I am going to tell you let these creatures bee. Let them tunnel into your outdoor furniture, your decks or the eaves of your house!

Proof is in the pollen covered bee on chive flowers!

No, I’m not going to tell you that. What I will say is that these big beautiful, noisy bees are excellent pollinators. In fact, they are being studied across the globe for pollinating green house crops like passionflower, blueberries, greenhouse tomatoes and greenhouse melons.

I will tell you that they are generalist foragers and are known to pollinate garden crops and garden plants. Carpenter bees are known to pollinate eggplant (Solanum melongena), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) and other species in that genus, cucurbits (Cucurbita spp.), cassias (Cassia spp.), Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), cigar orchid (Cyrtopodium punctatum), bee balm (Monarda spp.), aromatic sumac (Rhus aromatica), and wild lupine (Lupinus perennis).

Robbing the nectar on salvia

I will tell you that they are buzz pollinators - meaning they use vibrations, or sonication, to release pollen grains from the flower’s anthers. The most efficient pollination is accomplished by a few species who specialize in sonication or buzz pollination. In order to release the pollen, bumblebees and carpenter bees are able to grab onto the flower and move their flight muscles rapidly, causing the flower and anthers to vibrate, dislodging pollen. About 8% of the flowers of the world are primarily pollinated using buzz pollination. Wildflower gardeners~all Dodecatheon are buzz pollinated! Eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, blueberries and cranberries are also buzz pollinated.

I will tell you that they typically visit flowers that are large, open-faced with abundant nectar and pollen, day-bloomers, pale or saturated in color, and that have a fresh odor, anthers specialized for pollen collection by bees, and corollas with strong walls.

I will tell you that they cheat and break open the sides of flowers, like salvias to get at the nectar! So they do not pollinate salvia!

Salvia azure is in this bee’s sights

I will tell you that I never, never, never use pesticide in my garden. Ever!


I will tell you that they have bored their way into my garden and my carport! Let me be perfectly honest~I would very much appreciate them not using their powerful mandibles to create nests in my carport timber! But, I am not going to use pesticides to kill them. Instead, I’ve located benches made in one of their favorite woods, thick pieces of pine, horizontally laid tree trucks and branches to encourage them to move to a new nesting area.

Gathering strength for the coming winter

They’re in the garden today…It’s near 80F (26C). That’s the perfect warm weather to bring the males and females who over wintered in the nesting tunnels out. They are darting and buzzing madly around~ I can’t tell if these are two males ‘fighting’ over territory or a male and female courting. Soon, the females will begin boring new tunnels or excavating the old tunnels. Inside their rounded branched galleries, they’ll form pollen/nectar loaves upon which they lay their giant eggs (up to 15 mm long). The female forms partitions between each egg cell by mixing sawdust and her saliva together. (source) The female will seal the tunnels and soon die~In a few months the new generation of males and females will emerge, forage the rest of the growing season; then they’ll hunker down in the old tunnels all winter long; and, wake up next year on a warm spring day and start it all over again.

I will tell you~ that I sure hope they like the redwood benches or the thick untreated pine board or the dead tree branches!

xxoogail

PS It bears repeating~ If you want to attract pollinators~Never, never, never, ever, use pesticides in your garden.

This post is part of a series on native pollinators in the garden~ Earlier posts and their links are listed below for your convenience.

Part I~Now Is The Time To Bee-gin Thinking About Bees ( here)
This Is The Place To Bee ( here)
If You Could Plant Only One Plant In Your Garden~Don’t (here)
Must Bee The Season of The Witch (here)
Go Bare In Your Garden (here)
We can’t All be pretty Pollinators (here)
Eye, Eye Skipper, Big Eyed Pollinators (here)
What’s In Your Garden (here)

Other bee posts you might want to read~
Count Yourself Lucky To Have Hoverflies (here)
Bumblebee Hotel (here)
Still Taking Care Of Bzzness (here)
My Sweet Embraceable You (here)

*Weathered woods are a common target of carpenter bees, to deter this behavior, keep exposed wood surfaces, including nail holes and saw cuts, coated with polyurethane or oil-base paint.

This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011.This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

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At Fingerhut, you will be able to find a variety of outdoor necessities for enjoying a beautiful day. Choose from a variety of patio sets, barbecue grills, outdoor furniture, hammocks and so much more. Fingerhut also has a nice selection of power tools, garden tools and storage and sheds, just in case you want to do a little work in your backyard. Here’s the best part: Fingerhut has deals that will help you save as you shop.

Fingerhut is offering 8% off orders of $88 or more. Just use coupon code AFFBITS. This coupon has no expiration date. You can also get $5 off purchase of $75 or more, just by typing in AFF814 when you check out. This offer is only valid through March 11, 2011.

The spring season has just begun, and it’s definitively time to have some fun under the sun! Be sure to keep checking our Fingerhut coupons page to find the latest deals and discounts.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/gr33n3gg/3445868159

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To make things even better, Lowe’s is also offering free next day local delivery, and they’ll even haul away your old appliance. As long as you live within 75 miles of a Lowe’s store and your appliance is in stock, Lowe’s will take care of the rest.

Additionally, if you are looking for energy-efficient consumer appliances, then Lowe’s has a perfect limited-time offer for you: 15% off ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances valued at $397 or more, and all other major appliances get 10% off. But hurry! Offer ends Feb. 21, 2011

This is the perfect opportunity to prepare for the upcoming spring cleaning season. Shop now and save before time runs out!

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While primarily considered for use with camping, pool houses and other outdoor areas, there are some designed for home use. They use almost no water, and all the poo — yes, that is the scientific term — and urine are stored and turned into compost that you can use on your garden and lawn.

That’s right. This means that you can even throw your old vegetable refuse down the toilet. Many of you are probably thinking that a composting toilet is just a glorified outhouse. You sit on the toilet, make a poo and then it just falls down a deep dark hole. That’s not true. A composting toilet is actually a complex system designed to advance bacterial decomposition.

The poo and urine is sent to a storage area, where positive suction keeps the smell from entering the home. Bacteria begins to decompose the organic material, and the toilet system keeps things at the right temperature, churned up, and injects fresh air for the bacteria.

When the compost pile gets full, you simply go to the waste chamber and take out the compost to fertilize your lawn or garden, or even sell to local greenhouses and landscaping businesses.

If you are building a new home, then putting in a composting toilet will be about 25 to 50 percent less than the cost of creating and installing a complete septic system. If you already have a septic system installed, then it could be a hefty price tag to convert your home to the composting toilet, but the savings are large scale.

You save money on water charges and sewer usage, and you never have to buy compost for your lawn again. Outdora.com has a article outlining the breakdown of environmental advantages and financial savings for a composting toilet.

Would you be willing to save your poo to fertilize your yard and help save Mother Earth?

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/redjar/114202286/

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It’s easy to get caught up in the grandeur of the new tools, and it has led to many marital disputes over the years. Believe it nor not, your wife or significant other does not appreciate your need of a cordless drill, because you already have a corded one. I know, right?

The thing you have to ask yourself when you go to buy a new tool — or when you just to go window shopping — is this: Do I really need it? Many times, a tool seems cool on the shelf and you can think of a million things to do with it, but then you get it home and it just sits on your shelf.

Sure, it looks really good sitting on the shelf, and you will be the envy of all your friends, but what’s its use? You just spent $100 or more on a tool that’s going to do nothing, but has the potential to do a lot. I will admit that there has been the occasion where a tool has sat on my shelf for a while and then out of nowhere the perfect situation arises to use it. But this is rare.

I cannot stress the importance of having a proper set of tools, but getting over your head with needless tools serves no purpose. The money would be better served buying supplies for your home improvements and upgrades to the tools you already use.

The last thing you want to find out is that you can’t start that project you want because you spent all your money on a tool you’ll never use. I have actually done this, and its not fun explaining to my wife that I can’t fix the leaking sink for another couple of days because I spent the money on a new jigsaw.

I had to build a new doghouse after that, just so I could fit in it for a couple of days.

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Make this holiday season a safe one so you can enjoy friends and family outside of a hospital environment. They want you to be around for a long time, so please take the time to be a little extra careful this season.

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