I've heard Jim Hagedorn use the business is war analogy before and I've seen him use it in print, but never on camera until today when our friend, Wendy Bounds, of the Wall Street Journal released this video featuring a one-on-one interview. Ever a public relations nightmare for his company, Hagedorn lets it all hang out — including phrases that needed to be bleeped. This is the man who runs the company mos ...

We heard from the organizers of the World Film Festival in Montreal that our screening dates and times for our film, A Chemical Reaction, are as follows: Aug. 28, 5 p.m., Quartier Latin Cinema Complex, 350 rue Émery, Montréal Aug. 29, 1:30 p.m., ONF/NFB Theatre, 1564 Saint-Denis St., Montreal, Quebec H2X 3K2 Aug. 31, 7 p.m., ONF/NFB Theatre, 1564 Saint-Denis St., Montreal, Quebec H2X 3K2 ...

In the midst of planning movie premieres and national anti-chemical campaigns, our life as we knew it stopped suddenly when my wife went into labor at precisely 12:55 a.m. last Thursday. For the next several hours, I was either glued to a stopwatch or being gripped fiercely by my wife as her contractions grew closer and more powerful in succession. Incredibly important questions came at us from all directio ...

Though I'm not coming out as endorsing this idea for homeowners, I did get a kick out of this news item today. A company is trying to make a go of it by selling green paint for your lawn. The claims are that it's environmentally friendly, but I'd need to ask a few more questions. Anyway, for now, here's the link so you can read for yourself: www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=249520 ...

The city of Muncie, Indiana, made the news this week by switching its City Hall landscape to the principles of xeriscaping. With droughts affecting so much of the nation these days, we just can't waste water the way we used to. This blog has covered water issues in detail in the past several weeks, including this post about the City Hall in Falmouth, Mass.: www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2009/07/dont-wast ...

As a chemically sensitive person, one of the ubiquitous summertime products I need to avoid is Off, the mosquito and insect repellent containing DEET, or N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide. I immediately get outrageous headaches if I'm anywhere around the stuff. Although the chemical has been used in mosquito repellents for years — and it certainly does work — it has also been controversial for almost as long as ...

When we visited with the Pesticide Action Network during the filming of the movie A Chemical Reaction, the lead scientist said he hoped a ban on endosulfan was imminent. The insecticide, banned in more than 50 countries, has been steadfastly defended and approved in the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency. That, however, may be changing. Under pressure from scientists around the world, the ...

I'd like to thank the folks at Wisconsin Public Radio, who had us on the air yesterday to talk about the release of our film, A Chemical Reaction. The response from their audience made Tuesday, Aug. 11, the busiest day of the summer for SafeLawns.org (it generated more "hits" than my appearance on Good Morning America back in July). One of the great questions I received concerned how to talk to a neighbor w ...

I received this email today from a new SafeLawns member from Wisconsin. If anyone has any experience with this issue, please post a comment below. Paul, I just listened to a replay of your Wisconsin Public Radio interview this morning. I hope you can help me: I am about to start legal proceedings against TruGreen for damage to my trees, shrubs, native plantings (I would bring up my headaches but don’t think ...

Yesterday our film was accepted at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival for its official United States premiere. Here is a complete list of screenings as of today: SCREENINGS Montreal World Film Festival (Aug. 27-Sept. 7) Screening Dates TBA (OFFICIAL WORLD PREMIERE) Camden (Maine) International Film Festival (Oct. 1-4) Screening Date TBA New Jersey Film Festival Oct. 4, 7 p.m. New Jersey Film Fes ...