I had some amazing strawberries earlier this week at a restaurant known as Arnies in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The waitress assured me they were grown locally, though not necessarily organically, so I pushed all thoughts of pesticides out of my head and munched away. Delicious. As strawberry season approaches here in Maine, brought on earlier than usual by the mild winter and spring, I think everyone should b ...

Our friends at Beyond Pesticides have a great post out today about how to manage mosquitoes effectively without toxic chemicals: http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=3643 ...

Our friends at Beyond Pesticides in Washington, D.C., posted this great article and video about a pesticide protest led by a 9-year-old boy in Colorado. Great stuff! http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=3599 ...

Sandra Steingraber is one of my heroes in this world. A cancer survivor and scientist, she wrote a book several years ago, Living Downstream, that hastened my own journey toward outspoken advocacy. Answering the question I asked on this blog a few days ago — What Did You Do When You Knew? — the mother of two isn't afraid to let the world know the facts about toxic exposures. I was delighted to see her take ...

I enjoyed the post by our friend, Tom Kelly, at Fire Belly Organics: http://firebellylawncare.com/blog/. ...

I attended an extraordinary event last night in Wells, Maine, at the Laudholm Farm home of the massive coastal expanse known as the Wells Reserve. It was, in so many ways, an ideal model of how to turn a community outreach into a happening. The 100 or so attendees were able to mingle and network for an hour among a dozen or so vendors. Organic food was available for anyone who hadn't eaten dinner and white ...

Carole Feldman of the Associated Press called recently to discuss organic lawn care at length. Her story hit the wire service yesterday and it's getting play in hundreds of newspapers worldwide. Here's a link to a paper in Taiwan: http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1239641&lang=eng_news&cate_img=317.jpg&cate_rss=news_Features. ...

[caption id="attachment_1341" align="alignnone" width="720" caption="This soccer field in Connecticut is maintained using organic techniques."][/caption] When the state of Connecticut made U.S. history in 2005 by becoming the first state to ban the applications of synthetic weed killers around schools and daycare centers in grades K-8, those of us in the environmental and health community cheered loudly. I' ...

Atrazine is a pesticide long associated with causing birth defects in frogs and other amphibians, as well as myriad health impacts to humans and other mammals. The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health said atrazine's "alleged endocrine disruptor effects, possible carcinogenic effect, and epidemiological connection to low sperm levels in men has led several researchers to call for b ...

It's an absolutely glorious day here in Maine, 65 degrees with a slight breeze wafting through the open back porch door. Moments ago, just before I snapped the photo above, I heard my daughter, Aimee, out on the lawn singing one of the songs we usually harmonize together at bedtime. "Take me out to the ballgame, Take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjacks, I don't care if I ever get back. ...