A Safer Spring?
Be alert for pesticide warning signs.
Teach children to stay away from areas where pesticide warning signs are posted.
Avoid taking walks or exercising where you see landscapers applying chemicals to lawns, trees or shrubbery.
Do not walk on granules scattered on streets and sidewalks to avoid tracking the residue into your home where it accumulates on carpets and house dust.
Talk to your neighbors. Ask them to notify you if they use herbicides or insecticides. You need to keep children and pets inside and to cover play equipment, sandboxes, garden vegetables and lawn furniture.
Close windows to keep the spray or vapor cloud from drifting into your home.
Consider keeping children and pets off lawn areas that have been contaminated even after the warning signs are gone.
Educate your neighbors and friends about safe, ecological approaches to insect and weed control.
Use alternative lawn care signs. They are good conversation starters and hel
p concerned individuals to identify each other. For example, in Newton, MA the Green Decade Coalition promotes the lawn sign:"Pesticide Free: Too Precious to Poison." In Wellesley, Massachusetts, the city's Natural Resources Department and the Wellesley Cancer Prevention Project adopted the Green Decade committee's logo as part of their green and white round lawn sign that says "Keep Wellesley Safe. Pesticide Free."
See Resources: http://greendecade.org/resourcegreenCAP.html
Teach children to stay away from areas where pesticide warning signs are posted.
Avoid taking walks or exercising where you see landscapers applying chemicals to lawns, trees or shrubbery.
Do not walk on granules scattered on streets and sidewalks to avoid tracking the residue into your home where it accumulates on carpets and house dust.
Talk to your neighbors. Ask them to notify you if they use herbicides or insecticides. You need to keep children and pets inside and to cover play equipment, sandboxes, garden vegetables and lawn furniture.
Close windows to keep the spray or vapor cloud from drifting into your home.
Consider keeping children and pets off lawn areas that have been contaminated even after the warning signs are gone.
Educate your neighbors and friends about safe, ecological approaches to insect and weed control.
Use alternative lawn care signs. They are good conversation starters and hel
p concerned individuals to identify each other. For example, in Newton, MA the Green Decade Coalition promotes the lawn sign:"Pesticide Free: Too Precious to Poison." In Wellesley, Massachusetts, the city's Natural Resources Department and the Wellesley Cancer Prevention Project adopted the Green Decade committee's logo as part of their green and white round lawn sign that says "Keep Wellesley Safe. Pesticide Free."See Resources: http://greendecade.org/resourcegreenCAP.html
