Pesticides on your lawn

 Have you noticed these signs on your own lawn or on our neighbor lawns? The little yellow signs state the following: CAUTION-Pesticide Application-Keep children and pets off the area. If the pesticides applied to the lawns are not safe for our children or pets to play on, shouldn’t we worry what these pesticides are going into our groundwater and our environment?

Pesticides in the environment are a concern because:

-Synthetic pesticides can cause cancer, learning disabilities, asthma, birth defects and reproductive problems

-Children face higher risks than adults from synthetic pesticides because they are developing

-Synthetic pesticides leach into water supplies

As spring approaches, The Springfield Environmental Commission would like to take a moment to advise our neighbors on safer alternatives for you and for your landscapers to use!! Natural alternatives don’t have to cost more than synthetic pesticides

Tips and Facts:

1.     MAKE SURE YOU ASK YOUR LANDSCAPERS TO USE ORGANIC OR NATURAL MATERIALS NOT SYNTHETIC PESTICIDES!!!!

2.    When buying a product choose natural ones such as milky spore and nematodes 

1. Remember that all pesticides are poison, and are considered by the EPA to be hazardous waste. For example, the "Weed" portion of "Weed 'n' Feed" products are pesticides.
2. READ the Labels - Poison or Danger, Warning and Caution: These words indicate the level of hazard associated with the product in decreasing order of toxicity. 
3. Just because a product is registered with the EPA does not mean it is safe!
4. To dispose of pesticide leftovers read the label and bring them to the hazardous waste collection center.
5. The empty containers are not recyclable, dispose of them as refuse.
6. A frequent mistake by many homeowners is to apply unnecessarily chemicals.
7. What the turf can't absorb will soon be carried away by rainwater or snow melt, to end up untreated in our regional watershed.
8. Never apply chemicals before it rains.
9. Discover the many benefits of using organic lawn care products and natural alternatives to pesticides such as a corn gluten product.

Doing it yourself without a landscaper? Some helpful tips:

1.     Fertilize organically twice a year

2.     Mow high (3 inches) and weeds will die naturally

3.     Water wisely- A good deep soaking early in the morning

4.     Re-seed lawn in Spring and Fall

5.    Use top dressing (a 50/50 mix of compost & top soil)

6.    Never apply any product before it rains.

Additional information can be found the following links.

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/documents/OrganicFallLawn101.pdf

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/resources/Read%20Your%20Weeds-Organic%20Lawns.pdf

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/alternatives/factsheets/Least-toxic%20Lawn%20Care_05.pdf

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/safetysource/index.php