The Maine Pesticide Summit is gathering loads of attention, both locally and nationally. The fact that concerned citizens, municipal leaders, scientists, lawn care professionals and activists from across the Northeast will gather Saturday, Nov. 20, in Brunswick, Maine, has Maine news from Washington to Maine — including this article published today in the Forecaster: http://www.toxicsaction.org/mainepestici ...

A scene played out Tuesday afternoon that I've probably witnessed 50 times across the U.S. and Canada in the past two years. I was among about 75 people in town council chambers in Scarborough, Maine, where the fast-growing municipality was considering an ordinance to ban the applications of pesticides around schools and other public property. The three councilors and mayor were clearly stunned at the crowd ...

[caption id="attachment_2269" align="alignleft" width="525" caption="Lawn pesticides continue to make the news every single day in Canada."][/caption] Though much of Canada has already banned the applications of synthetic chemical pesticides used to kill weeds and insects on public and private property, some cities and towns are still holding out. It appears, however, it won't be long in many areas. In Edmo ...

[caption id="attachment_2254" align="alignleft" width="504" caption="Rep. Suzanne Smith addresses the legislative sub-committee in New Hampshire in February. Ellen Fine sits immediately to Smith's right (dressed in brown). Jim Campanella is standing in the far corner (dressed in a black suit). "][/caption] CONCORD — As we predicted just a few days ago, the fate of the anti-pesticide movement in New Hampshir ...

[caption id="attachment_2232" align="alignleft" width="478" caption="Howie Carr "][/caption] Several New Hampshire supporters of proposed legislation that would ban certain synthetic pesticides used to kill lawn weeds and insects sent me the same audio clip today. Featuring Boston radio host Howie Carr talking with former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu on WRKO, the segment took blatant and wildly misgui ...

Adding an exclamation point to what can only be described as an incredible year in the regional and national anti-pesticide crusade, the SafeLawns Foundation will assist the Toxics Action Center in presenting the Maine Pesticide Summit, Saturday, Nov. 20 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Brunswick. "Communities across Maine have been up in arms against pesticide use lately," said Laura Stevens at Toxi ...

Though neighboring New Jersey has seen more than 30 towns ban pesticides on public property, New York municipalities have been reluctant to jump on the bandwagon. Perhaps that will change with one of the larger towns on Long Island's latest action: http://westislip.patch.com/articles/town-board-meeting-pesticide-use-banned-in-local-parks ...

Reporter Josie Huang takes on the issue of pesticide restrictions in Maine in this report that aired yesterday: http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/13067/Default.aspx ...

[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' ...

Note: At the conclusion of testimony in favor of the New Hampshire bill to study the potential impact of a ban on certain pesticides, several state representatives contacted SafeLawns for clarification on several points. This is a summary of what we submitted (much of this material has been covered previously in this blog): IN SUPPORT OF HB 1456 TALKING POINTS LAWNS AND SAFETY Many of the pesticide applicat ...