MOMENTUM IS BEGINNING TO BUILD for the Lawn Games for Life campaign we'll be launching in 2012. Centered around the book I have co-authored with actress Victoria Rowell, the events will include public talks, Lawn-A-Thon festivals, games demonstrations, a media campaign and outreach to schools and municipalities. "Use the lawn, don't just look at it," we'll be telling folks as we traverse North America begin ...

This is somewhat off the lawn topic, but it got my attention as it potentially relates to the safety of genetic engineering of plants that become foods — either for us or the animals that we eat. I know I grew up hearing from my grandmother that "you are what you eat." Now, a scientist in China, Chen-Yu Zhang, a molecular biologist at Nanjing University, seems to have proven just that: http://the-scientist. ...

We were watching this one closely, having participated in many of the early debates. Last night, in what can only be called a "landslide" vote and public outcry, the town of Scarborough, Maine, removed synthetic pesticides from public property: http://www.theforecaster.net/content/s-scarborough-town-council-092311. ...

Lawn Games Book Represents Change of Pace for Pesticide Activist [caption id="attachment_4278" align="alignleft" width="540" caption="Authors Paul Tukey and Victoria Rowell will introduce their new book next spring."][/caption] FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS NOW I have focused my energies through the SafeLawns Foundation to educate folks about how to grow lawns naturally. Beginning in 2012 I’m thrilled to announc ...

A few weeks ago we blogged about a new product, Azasol, available for the fight against lawn grubs and other insects: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/06/fight-japanese-beetles-and-lawn-grubs-with-new-neem-formulation/. In this week's video tip for NBC, we demonstrate how to use the product: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=168995. ...

Early this month, Safelawns reported about the genetically modified crops being grown in our national wildlife refuges, an egregious disregard for the very intent of a "sanctuary". Environmental groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and early this year secured a ban against genetically modified crops in northeast refuges. The USFWS failed to extend the ban to other regions, however, so the ...

When James Steidle isn't photographing the landscapes around his British Columbia home, or creating some practical piece of wood art, he's applying his creativity toward another, passionate cause. Founder of the website, Stop The Spray, B.C., Steidle has made it his personal mission to inform people of the damage glyphosate- the active ingredient in Roundup- is causing to the forests of B.C. 1. Your interes ...

In the last decades, the largest reef system in the world has experienced trouble because of climate change, but the BBC is reporting that a new Australian government water quality report indicates the reef is under attack from another source- pesticides. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest structure made from living organisms. The reef supports a wide diversity of ...

Reuters is reporting that a 15-year study of Monsanto's Roundup is linking the herbicide to fungal root disease. According to Bob Kremer, a microbiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup that impacts the root structure of plants, could be causing fungal root disease. As more farmers turn to Roundup Ready corn, soy, and oth ...

In a synopsis published by Environmental Health News, it was reported that a study found a pyrethroid chemical cocktail was more toxic than the effect of each chemical used on its own. Pyrethroids are insectides used on farms and in residential homes to kill mice, insects, and other pests. They are meant to mimic the natural toxins found in chyrsanthemums. Researchers at Creighton University and the U.S. En ...