Safelawns Daily Post and Q&A Blog

One of the nation’s best educational opportunities for professionals and homeowners is coming to the Midwest in late March. Titled the “Lawn & Landscape Summit: Chicago 2012,” the event will bring together two leading golf course superintendents, along with a renowned arborist and several of the most progressive landscape products companies for two days of lectures and panel discussions at the Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, Ill.

The SafeLawns Foundation will serve as co-host of the event with Calcium Products Inc., the soil amendment manufacturer from Iowa, as well as the Safer Pest Control Project of Chicago and a local conservation campaign known as Lawn to Lake. Among the scheduled presenters are Paul Cushing, the Assistant Deputy Director of the golf division for the city of San Diego that manages the Torrey Pines Golf Course, along with Jeff Carlson, the superintendent of the Vineyard Club on Martha’s Vineyard. Arborist Peter Wild of Boston Tree Preservation is also expected to talk about stem injection of trees as a defense against exotic invasive insects such as the emerald ash borer.

Presentations on Friday, March 30, will be geared for professionals, while the sessions on Saturday morning, March 31, will be prepared for homeowners. Other sponsoring companies include Milorganite, the long-time fertilizer manufacturer from Milwaukee, and Natural Industries, which makes the nation’s best natural fungicides.

For more information, visit www.lawnandlandscapesummit.com.

Will you help?

It’s been five years since SafeLawns blew the whistle on the fact that a group of pesticides was responsible for the sudden die-off of bees known as colony collapse disorder. We were threatened with lawsuits and endured a smear campaign, but ultimately our bee story has been picked up by thousands of other media outlets.

It’s been a year since America’s top bee scientist finally agreed with us and all the other organizations that had reached the conclusion that these pesticides — synthetic nicotines known as imidacloprid and clothianidin — were killing bees. This was the “smoking gun” research that SHOULD have compelled our government to finally take action to protect the bees once and for all.

But nothing. Several films have been produced to draw attention to the matter. Bee keepers have visited Washington, D.C., to beg the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Agriculture to take action. But still nothing.

Most recently on Jan. 3 a new study out of Purdue University signed, sealed and delivered the bee science. In lay terms, the scientists found that bees get poisoned: 1) when the synthetic pesticides are applied to fields and lawns; 2) when the pesticides wind up in the pollen of dandelions and other flowers in and around the fields and lawns; and 3) when bees drink water contaminated by pesticides. In other words, if the pesticides are applied, the bees will find them.

The national pesticide group Beyond Pesticides is trying to get the word out about this new study. Mother Jones and its excellent environmental writer, Tom Philpott, is also staying on top of the case:
http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/01/purdue-study-implicates-bayer-pesticide-bee-die-offs. Meanwhile, as Philpott reports, the manufacturer of these pesticides, Bayer, continues to accumulate record sales.

This comes down to the health of our food system and planet vs. the health of Bayer’s bottom line. Five years ago our first headline asked: “Is Bayer Killing the Bees?” The answer has proven to be yes.

The government is still sitting idly by . . . but we can’t let it.

In this, a campaign year, ask all your elected officials if they understand colony collapse disorder and the fact that bees are necessary for at least a third of the meals we consume. Take a few minutes of your own time to send a comment to this link: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0865-0001.

Better still, contact EPA’s Jim Jones at Jones.jim@epa.gov or call him at 1-202-564-2902 to demand that the agency bans synthetic nicotine pesticides — just like they did years ago in France, Germany and several other countries. If enough of you call or email, you will get noticed.

You can make a difference.

We received this personal note recently. We receive dozens of notes weekly that arrive like little pep pills to carry us through the days, but this one reached out and grabbed us even more than usual — maybe because it reminded us of a poem we have cited here before by Drew Dellinger titled Hieroglyphic Stairway. The poem’s classic last line . . . “what did you do once you knew?” . . . is evoked at the end of this note.

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.

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?”

One of the main questions we get here at the SafeLawns Foundation concerns training for professionals. While we offer one-on-one consulting for businesses and municipalities in the U.S. and Canada, there’s no question that best training in a classroom setting in North America comes from the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s accredited Organic Land Care Program (NOFA OLC).

The year’s first classes begin next Monday, Jan. 9 in Worcester, Mass., followed by two other classes in Connecticut and then Rhode Island.

Designed for any land care professional, including school grounds or municipal employees, conservation property managers, master gardeners, entrepreneurs or landscape enthusiasts, the courses focus on how to design and maintain ecological landscapes without the use of toxic pesticides.

More than 1,200 students from 22 different states have taken the courses in the past decade and more than 500 of those students currently maintain organic accreditation. Anyone looking for a qualified organic landscaper can search this database: http://www.organiclandcare.net/aolcp-search.

This five-day, 30-hour course features a faculty of respected scientists and experienced organic land care practitioners. Class topics include: site analysis, design and maintenance; rain gardens and storm water infiltration; soil health; fertilizer and soil amendments; lawn alternatives; wetlands; pest management; wildlife management; disease control; mulches; invasive plants; and, client relations and running a business. Four hands-on case studies are also included in the course and attendees may take an optional exam to become NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professionals (AOLCPs).

Bill Duesing, Executive Director of Connecticut NOFA and one of NOFA OLC’s founders explains, “Our course instructs students on landscaping that is healthier for people and the environment. Organic land care replaces toxic chemicals that get in our skin, lungs and water with methods that promote biodiversity, create habitat and protect water quality.”

The course is offered three times in 2012:
January 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Worcester State University
Worcester, MA

February 15, 16, 17, 21, 22
The Connecticut Agricultural Station-New Haven Laboratory
New Haven, CT

February 27, 28, 29, March 1, 2
Kettle Pond Visitor Center
Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
Charlestown, RI

For information about the Rhode Island and Connecticut course please e-mail Kristiane Huber at kristiane@ctnofa.org or call the CT NOFA office at (203) 888-5146. For information about the Massachusetts Course please contact Caro Roszell at caro@nofamass.org or (508) 360-0874.

Our colleagues in New Jersey are mobilizing anxiously in anticipation of next week’s critical vote in the state legislature that could remove toxic pesticides from school grounds and day care centers.

Suzanne Aptmann of the Northern New Jersey SafeYards Alliance did a great job of getting the issue covered in her local newspaper: http://westdeptford.patch.com/articles/legislature-could-move-on-school-pesticide-ban-next-week.

Safe landscape proponents from across the country are also eagerly anticipating the vote, as is the chemical pesticide industry. Tom Delaney, director of government affairs for the Professional Landcare Network (Planet), denounced the bill as propaganda and is asking all lawn care professionals to lobby against its passage.

We need to urge everyone in New Jersey to call their local legislators and urge them to pass the bill, which was co-sponsored by 40 elected officials.

The SafeLawns Foundation announced today it will open its 2012 international tour in California at the EcoLandscape 2012 conference in Woodland, just outside of Sacramento.

The conference, which will focus on economically and environmentally sustainable business practices in the green industry, will be keynoted by SafeLawns founder Paul Tukey, as well as Jeff Lowenfels of Anchorage, Alaska, author of Teeming with Microbes.

“We’re excited to begin our seventh year of touring the United States and Canada with the message of reducing toxins in the environment at this progressive conference,” said Tukey, who will introduce the award-winning film, A Chemical Reaction, after his afternoon speech titled “Reducing & Eliminating Harmful Inputs to the Landscape.” “We have also advocated that there needs to be a strong sustainable business component when you change from one way of doing things to another. The message here is that it’s possible to have a beautiful landscape without toxins — and that it’s possible for companies to make money doing so.”

CONFERENCE AGENDA

EcoLandscape 2012
January 28, 2012
Heidrick Ag History Center and Museum, Woodland, California

ECO-EVOLUTION: THE NEW CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPE
Sustainable Landscaping Businesses Are Successful and Profitable — Now

THEME: Leading by Example – Landscaping companies have developed successful
business models based on Sustainable Landscaping Practices.
7:00 – 8:00 a.m. Registration & Breakfast with Exhibitors
8:00 – 8:05 a.m. Welcome & Acknowledgements

8:05 – 8:30 a.m. How Sustainability Leads to Profitability
Jim Borneman, Vice President of Education, Ewing Irrigation

8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Market Opportunities for Sustainable Landscaping
Dave Alba, Organic Land Care Program Manager, Oregon Tilth

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Keynote Speaker: We Must Sustain the Soil to Succeed
Jeff Lowenfels, Garden Columnist and Author of “Teaming With Microbes”

10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Break

10:15 – 11:00 a.m. Successful Sustainable Business Models (Introduction by Ed Laivo)

10:15 – 10:30 a.m. Small Business – Hyphae Design Laboratory
Brent Bucknam, Founder
10:30 – 10:45 a.m. Medium Business – Gardener’s Guild
Daniel Levy
10:45 – 11:00 a.m. Large Business – Cagwin & Dorward
Dave Phelps, Sustainability Manager

11:00 – 12:00 p.m. Sustainable Business Panel Discussion
Moderator: Ed Laivo, Sales & Marketing Director
Devil Mountain Wholesale Nursery

12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch, Eco-Trade Show, Speakers Available for Q&A & Book Signings

1:30 – 2:15 p.m. Opportunities in Ordinances
Pamela Berstler, Founding Member, G3 – Green Gardens Group
Legislative Chairperson, Association of Professional Landscape Designers, CA

2:15 – 3:15 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Reducing/Eliminating Harmful Inputs to the Landscape
Paul Tukey, Founder of SafeLawns Movement, Author & Journalist

3:15 – 3:30 p.m. Break

3:30 – 4:40 p.m. Film Viewing: “A Chemical Reaction” (Introduction by P. Tukey)

4:40 – 5:30 p.m. Meet Paul Tukey & Jeff Lowenfels, Book & DVD Sales, Signing

With 44 co-sponsors in the New Jersey legislature hopes are high for the passage of the Childs Safe Playing Fields law: http://montclair.patch.com/articles/no-more-exposure-to-lawn-pesticides-for-children-at-school

This is an amazing article from the Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201201/parkinsons-pesticides.aspx

Are consumers waking up to the general wastefulness and toxicity of the chemical lawn care industry? Based on the ongoing decline in the finances of the world’s largest purveyor of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides — coupled with the increase in the sales of organic products — all indications point to a major market shift.

Scotts Miracle-Gro announced earlier this week that it will likely lose $70 to $75 million in the fiscal quarter ending Dec. 31 — which is considered its first quarter of 2012. Scotts always loses money this time of year, but this year’s loss is approximately $10 million more than last year for the same period. That follows a year (2011) in which the company’s global consumer sales dipped by more than 9 percent, according to information published by Scotts in November.

The company publicly blames its demise on weather-related issues, as well as increasing commodity costs related to the rising costs of fossil fuel. Chief Financial Officer David Evans admitted the price of synthetic chemical fertilizer has increased approximately 50 percent in the past five years, but told market analysts that a bag of Miracle Gro won’t go up in price this year as the company tries to retain its shrinking market share.

As recently as November, Scotts CEO Jim Hagedorn defiantly predicted that sales would rebound in 2012. Based on the recent losses — along with a sharp drop in the company’s stock price to less than $44 from a high of $60 earlier this year — Hagedorn will now have to hedge his bets.

“We’ll provide (financial) guidance to our investors in February,” he said recently. “We need to evaluate the continued variability of commodity costs and work is still being done to finalize next year’s marketing plans.”

Meanwhile a survey of sales in the organic sector point to an approximately 20 percent increase in fertilizers and natural pesticides in the U.S. Numerous companies continue to jump into the natural market and even the dinosaurs like Scotts and TruGreen (ChemLawn) now offer natural alternatives.

All of this follows a worldwide trend back to the future.

Honesto Baniqued Jr., president of the National Agribusiness Corporation of the Philippines, said the efficacy of organic offerings has improved in recent years just as understanding of the products has skyrocketed globally.

“We’re seeing a 35 percent increase in yields with a switch to an organic fertilizer,” he said. “The use of (synthetic) fertilizer is scandalous and unnecessary.”

Well said.

Beyond Pesticides announed that the 30th annual National Pesticide Forum will be held at Yale University in New Haven, Ct., on March 30-31, 2012.

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.