Mission

To create a broad-based coalition of non- and for-profit organizations committed to educating society about the benefits of environmentally responsible lawn care and gardening, and effect a quantum change in consumer and industry behavior.

History

In the spring of 2006, with water quality, chemical exposure and global warming emerging as mainstream issues, Paul Tukey, founder and publisher of People, Places & Plants magazine contacted a group of motivated and qualified professionals from the for-profit and non-profit sectors to try and figure out how to take organic turf care and grounds maintenance in the United States to the next level.

Sixteen people gathered together at the American Horticultural Society’s River Farm in Alexandria, VA the following in July to help work out the vision that would become SafeLawns.org, and in less than one year, SafeLawns has touched literally millions through the Internet, print and broadcast media, and face to face contact at green industry shows, conferences and garden club meetings across America.

In April 2007, Safelawns launched a three pronged campaign to fundamentally change the way that American turf care and grounds maintenance are done. Held on “America’s Front Yard,” the National Mall in Washington, DC, it marked the emergence of a strong movement toward halting the pollution of our soil water and bodies by toxic lawn fertilizers and chemicals.

Founder

Paul Tukey, Founder and Spokesman
Paul Tukey is the founding editor and publisher of People, Places & Plants magazine and author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual (Storey Books, 2007). The companion DVD Making the Organic Lawn Care Transition recently received the 2006 Garden Writers Award for Best Electronic Media.

Tukey has won numerous other awards, including the 2006 Horticultural Communicator of the Year Award from the American Horticultural Society and the Silver Medal of Honor from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for his contributions to regional horticulture. His 46 episode HGTV show – also called People, Places & Plants – has just been released as a boxed set of DVDs. As SafeLawns spokesman, Tukey is a frequent public speaker on the subjects of gardening, grounds maintenance and environmental awareness.

Board of Directors

Paul Tukey, Chairman

Timothy Rhys , Secretary

Peter Wild, Founder - Arborjet, Inc.

Advisory Board

Dr. Elaine Ingham
The founder of the Soil Food Web laboratories around the world, Dr. Ingham is recognized as one of the leading soil scientists of our time. She has pioneered research into the understand of soil organisms and the role that healthy soil management plays in the ultimate success of crops, turf, forests and ornamental plantings.

Dr. Ronald Duncan
Vice president of Turf Ecosystems in San Antonio, Texas, Duncan is a retired professor of turf-grass science at the University of Georgia, where he researched grasses from 1977-2003. His research involved field evaluation, breeding and mechanisms of tolerance to environmental-stress complexes such as salinity, soil acidity and drought, which are associated with problems in grass species. He is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on water requirements for grasses.