Don't Practice Organic Lawn Care? Then Don't Make a Garden Near Your Lawn or Let Your Dog Eat the Grass

Could you be making your family and pets sick? Also does lawn care pollute the environment when you use too much fertilizer?

If you own a home with a lawn of course you want it to look good. You may even want to impress you friends and neighbors and make it look even better. This has caused many to over water, over fertilize, use too much pesticide and under cut their lawns. Not only does this cause replacement of sod in long run it increases health risks and pollutes the environment.

I certainly do not enjoy being an alarmist but why do the practices of caring for our lawns have to involve a non-organic approach that is questionably unhealthy? Why can't we all follow the organic lawn care guidelines that many have proven effective to create a beautiful lawn?

Government municipalities have begun programs that only allow organic care of their landscapes. One of the first to regulate pesticide use was the town of Marblehead Massachusetts. Their Health Department formed an Organic Pest Management Advisory Committee to develop Organic Pest Management Regulations. As they explain, "Organic Pest Management is a problem-solving strategy that prioritizes a natural, organic approach to turf grass and landscape management without the use of toxic pesticides. It mandates the use of natural, organic cultural practices that promote healthy soil and plant life as a preventative measure against the onset of turf and landscape pest problems." Associated Content.URL:( http://www.marblehead.org/)

Adopted in December 2005 their Organic Pest Management Regulations state that, "All pesticides are toxic to some degree and the commonplace, widespread use of pesticides is both a major environmental problem and a public health issue".

In New Jersey others have also adopted what are called, pesticide free zones. As the New Jersey Environmental Federation puts it, these zones, "PFZ provides safe, healthy, LIVING lawns and landscapes that protect the health of children, families, pets, wildlife and the environment from unnecessary exposure to toxic pesticides." Associated Content.URL:( http://cleanwateraction.org/)

Even in the largest city in the US, New York, Mayor Bloomberg has signed into, " that will begin restricting hazardous pesticide use on all city land." Associated Content.URL:( http://www.beyondpesticides.org/news/pressreleases/NYC_5_9_05.htm)

Pesticide management of lawns and the even bigger environmental impact of fertilizer use has become a big issue in Florida where they are a national leader on the fertilizer issue. This St. Petersburg article makes reference to Florida municipality governments, "Last year the village of Wellington banned all but 2 percent phosphorus fertilizer, and this month Sanibel followed suit. It also is restricting homeowners to six applications of fertilizer a year. Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor, with the maximum punishment a fine of $500 and 60 days in jail." Organic Lawn care uses very low levels of phosphates, which is the main chemical Florida is trying to restrict. Associated Content.URL:( http://www.sptimes.com/)

In the last two or three years in Southwest Florida the effects of runoff are becoming suspect in the cause of massive amount of sea weed coming up on the shores and outbreaks of red tide. I took a visitor of mine, and their family to the beach one day, and we noticed many dead fish washed ashore. Then we began to have this scratch in our throats and some of our eyes started to water. We eventually realized that the red tide was the cause as it is not something visible in the water, so we had to leave the beach.

So how can we help? Many homeowners do not want to hassle with lawn care and choose the proven services from TruGreen, Scotts and the like. They do make your lawn look great but at what costs to your health and the environment? Eventually their services do kill lawns after a long period of time, unfortunately, this is well after their hidden damage has been done and it doesn't cost that much to replace a lawn.

There are many cases of pet and human exposure to these lawn treatment companies causing illness. Some in New England have formed groups to educate the community on these dangers including, The Toxics Action Center. They are trying to get people to "Refuse to Use Trugreen Chemlawn" in a big way. Associated Content.URL:( http://www.refusetousechemlawn.org/). They outline that our children are at risk, workers are exposed, pets are vulnerable and our environment is being poisoned.

In even more disturbing research of facts I uncovered is an investigative report done by a local news channel in North Carolina. They investigated TruGreen and also concluded that they are using questionable products to our health. Their article went on to speak about some pets that were sickened by some chemical that were used on neighbors tomato plants that made her dog sick, "Her dog "Lucy" couldn't walk, stand or breathe." Also, a "Dr. Marilie Gammon is a cancer researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She helped conduct a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology that found women who use garden chemicals have a 35 percent increase in the risk of getting breast cancer." Associated Content.URL:( http://abclocal.go.com/)

This all led me to consider starting my own organic lawn care business and helping to combat the big non-organic lawn care companies. However, the industry if so regulated, and I have to agree with them, that it is hard to get into this business. That is without first doing exactly what the wrong thing; spraying dangerous chemicals and other environmentally unsound products on lawns. In order to even, as my local inspector told me, "pour hot water on an ant hill", you have to be licensed. To get a license you have to work for someone who has a license for one year with educational credits or three years of work without the college education. This set of restrictions is good and bad. Good in that they do restrict someone to the tutelage of another licensed professional. Bad for young business development as after this period that licensed person applies for you to get the license and may require a non-compete agreement. I do not want to spray dangerous chemicals and other environmentally unsound products on lawns or work for anyone else, as they do not pay enough. I was told by my local inspector that I could try an find someone to sponsor me so to speak, but that seems a uphill battle, check out this thread posting on a lawn care's organic section that has curtailed my dreams further, Associated Content.URL:( "http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=171414). Finding a sponsor would work but it seems the state has thought of this and as the licensed business owner pointed out he could lose that license doing what I was asking.

As another one of the posting folks put it, "It seems to me that the states have overlooked this scenario" is correct. Maybe all us homeowners that want the perfect lawn may be overlooking the impact they we have. We have a very large impact, "During a typical year in neighborhoods across the country, over 102 million pounds of toxic pesticides are applied in pursuit of a perfect lawn and garden. This figure, up from 90 million pounds in the year 2000, continues to grow despite the growing body scientific evidence of the public health and environmental consequences." Associated Content.URL:( http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/).

Another incredible fact is that if you consider our lawn and gardens as a crop like corn then, "according to a report to be published later this year in the journal Environmental Management, some 40 million acres of America are covered in lawns, making turf grass our largest irrigated crop." And "Outdoor watering accounts for more than half of municipal water use in most areas, and homeowners often apply fertilizers and pesticides to their lawns at many times the recommended levels." Associated Content.URL:( http://www.usnews.com/)

The body of evidence is clear and the large lawn care companies are not going to roll over and die nor are the companies producing the products used. So, if you want to take control of your piece of those 40 million acres there is a smaller amount of facts that are not getting much attention, these Organic yard care guidelines in a PDF brochure from Living Lawn, Associated Content.URL:(http://livinglawn.org/)

Florida Fred