Homeowners bid farewell to pesticides

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Subject:  Homeowners bid farewell to pesticides........................
 Date:     Thu, 4 Apr 2002 07:18:18 -0500
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Dear Mr. Helliker,  I thought you might like to read an April 3, 2002 article from KING 5 News entitled: Homeowners bid farewell to pesticides.  Reported by Pat McReynolds,

SHORELINE, Wash. - Four neighborhoods in Shoreline, Wash. , have agreed to give up pesticides for the good of the environment and the health of the people who live there.

It may not always easy to get next-door neighbors to agree let alone an entire community. But four neighborhoods in Shoreline decided to get rid of dangerous pesticides.

You could say they're going au naturel when it comes to yard care.

The communities held a block party Wednesday to draw attention to their goals. It was lacking the usual hotdogs and potato salad, but there were plenty of pesticides and poisons to go around, as residents of these communities came together to dispose of their toxic yard products.

"It's not going to be that tough when you think about your grandchildren, your children, your family and your neighbors," Shoreline resident Butch Dahl said. "It's not that hard to break."

The neighborhoods are filled with children who like to roll around in the grass. That motivated a lot of people to agree to make the switch.

Su Ryan said her family hired a gardener who used iron on the lawn.

"It turned our lawn black," she said. "That's kind of scary when you have kids... because you never know what they're going to put in their mouth."

King County and Seattle Public Utilities are among the sponsors of the program. Some local businesses are slashing prices for the tools needed to make the transition, such as electric mulching mowers. Organizers hope that when other people see how inexpensive and easy natural lawn care is, it will become as second nature as recycling.

"It would be great to see that kind of thing become institutionalized, so... it just becomes the way we live," said Rod Hansen, of the King County Waste Management.

On some lawns, grass has been replaced with native plants that need little water.

For more information, people in the Seattle area can attend Northwest Natural Yard Days on Sat., April 6th from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Seattle Center .

Resource Links

King County Department of Natural Resources -   http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/

Seattle Public Utilities - http://www.cityofseattle.net/util/composting/

Source url: http://www.king5.com/localnews/NW_040302WABshoreline_gardens.3caafb58.html

Well Mr. Helliker,  It does not take a "rocket scientist" to realize your "registered" pesticide POISONS are not safe and/or beneficial for the environment or the people.

Respectfully,  Stephen L. Tvedten

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