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Seeds for Change Wellness
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Detoxing Green Velvet
Detoxing Green Velvet
by Amanda MacMillan Source
Manicured green grass may or may not be the American dream, but if you don't want your yard to
pose a threat to the environment and your health, you may want to join the organic trend. The market
for organic lawn and garden care is upward of $500 million a year and growing. A July 2004 National
Garden Association (NGA) survey found that 5 million U.S. households use non-synthetic fertilizers,
insect and pest control, a number expected to double over the next three to five years, according to
Bruce Buttersfield, NGA research director.
Why worry?
Over half of America's homeowners regularly douse their yards with pesticides, some of which, recent
research indicates, may cause reproductive harm to wildlife and people. This March, the U.S.
Geological Survey announced that pesticides were found in almost all waterways and in some
drinking-water systems. The January 2006 Food and Chemical Toxicology showed that 2,4-D, a
widely used residential herbicide, reduced weight gains in rat pups. In June 2005, Science reported
that high concentrations of the lawn- and garden-spray ingredients methoxychlor and vinclozolin
caused hereditary changes in mice, affecting male fertility. Other pesticides contain
organophosphates--chemicals that attack the nervous system and are linked to hermaphroditism in
amphibians as well as low birth weight in humans, fish, lizards and plants, according to the EPA.
Although synthetic pyrethroids are touted by manufacturers as less toxic, two 2005 studies found that
the varieties lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin, both used on residential lawns and gardens, proved
lethal to fish at concentrations of only 2 to 6 parts per billion (ppb). In California streams, levels were
measured as high as 437 ppb.
Fertilizers pose their own problems. "All plants need nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, but many
synthetic fertilizers deliver them in a fast-release, water-soluble form they can't take up all at once,"
says Karl Guillard, Ph.D., professor of agronomy at the University of Connecticut. These nutrients
seep into waterways and contribute to algae bloom.
How Not to Worry: 8 Steps to Greener Lawn and Garden Care
Don't buy or use synthetic pesticides, including herbicides and insecticides. To safely get rid of
them, contact your local sanitation department for instructions on the disposal of hazardous waste.
Use least-toxic pest control: Repel bugs and weeds with homemade mixtures such as hot peppers
and water (see Lawn and Garden and Pest Control Product Reports at
www.thegreenguide.com/reports) or use beneficial insects to prey on pests
(www.thebeneficialinsectco.com). Tackle pesky unwanted plants in a bare spot of lawn by sprinkling
extra grass seed. "Be liberal with the seed," says Bill Duesing, coordinator of the Northeast Organic
Farming Association's (NOFA) organic lawn-care program, "because if enough grass springs up
there, you're not going to get weeds growing too" (for more tips, see organiclandcare.net). Attract
insect-eating birds with bamboo houses ($26.51; www.mastergardenproducts.com, 800-574-7248).
Keep animals out of your garden with a water-spraying scarecrow ($79.95; www.safepetproducts.com,
877-231-1426).
Use organic compost instead of fertilizer, says Duesing. Use NOFA-approved Intervale ($15/20
qts.; www.gardeners.com, 888-833-1412) or Vermont Compost Plus ($10/20 qts.;
www.fedcoseeds.com, 207-873-7333). Or make your own (see Product Report, above).
Choose an alternative lawn cover, like fine-blade fescue, which requires less fertilizer and water
than traditional bluegrass or ryegrass, or plants native to your area (see your local USDA extension,
www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension).
Grow your lawn at least three inches tall for a deeper, stronger root system; any weeds that do
sprout will be blocked from the sun.
Choose tools made from sustainable wood or recycled plastic and rubber, not PVC (see
"Picnic Perfect Plastics"). See rain buckets, composters and hose at groworganic. com and
Wolf-Garten's 10-piece garden set ($124; www.omygarden.com, 800-692-9501).
Buy garden and lawn furniture made with FSC-certified wood from well managed forests
(www.earthsourcewood.com).
Retire your gas-powered lawn mower for a non-polluting hand-powered version ($99.95;
www.omygarden.com, 800-692-9501).
Resources
Straight-Ahead Organic, by Shepard Ogden ($24.95, Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999)
Maria Rodale's Organic Gardening ($35, Rodale Press, 1998)
Redesigning the American Lawn, by Bormann, Balmori and Geballe ($18, Yale University Press, 2001)
by Amanda MacMillan Source
Manicured green grass may or may not be the American dream, but if you don't want your yard to
pose a threat to the environment and your health, you may want to join the organic trend. The market
for organic lawn and garden care is upward of $500 million a year and growing. A July 2004 National
Garden Association (NGA) survey found that 5 million U.S. households use non-synthetic fertilizers,
insect and pest control, a number expected to double over the next three to five years, according to
Bruce Buttersfield, NGA research director.
Why worry?
Over half of America's homeowners regularly douse their yards with pesticides, some of which, recent
research indicates, may cause reproductive harm to wildlife and people. This March, the U.S.
Geological Survey announced that pesticides were found in almost all waterways and in some
drinking-water systems. The January 2006 Food and Chemical Toxicology showed that 2,4-D, a
widely used residential herbicide, reduced weight gains in rat pups. In June 2005, Science reported
that high concentrations of the lawn- and garden-spray ingredients methoxychlor and vinclozolin
caused hereditary changes in mice, affecting male fertility. Other pesticides contain
organophosphates--chemicals that attack the nervous system and are linked to hermaphroditism in
amphibians as well as low birth weight in humans, fish, lizards and plants, according to the EPA.
Although synthetic pyrethroids are touted by manufacturers as less toxic, two 2005 studies found that
the varieties lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin, both used on residential lawns and gardens, proved
lethal to fish at concentrations of only 2 to 6 parts per billion (ppb). In California streams, levels were
measured as high as 437 ppb.
Fertilizers pose their own problems. "All plants need nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, but many
synthetic fertilizers deliver them in a fast-release, water-soluble form they can't take up all at once,"
says Karl Guillard, Ph.D., professor of agronomy at the University of Connecticut. These nutrients
seep into waterways and contribute to algae bloom.
How Not to Worry: 8 Steps to Greener Lawn and Garden Care
Don't buy or use synthetic pesticides, including herbicides and insecticides. To safely get rid of
them, contact your local sanitation department for instructions on the disposal of hazardous waste.
Use least-toxic pest control: Repel bugs and weeds with homemade mixtures such as hot peppers
and water (see Lawn and Garden and Pest Control Product Reports at
www.thegreenguide.com/reports) or use beneficial insects to prey on pests
(www.thebeneficialinsectco.com). Tackle pesky unwanted plants in a bare spot of lawn by sprinkling
extra grass seed. "Be liberal with the seed," says Bill Duesing, coordinator of the Northeast Organic
Farming Association's (NOFA) organic lawn-care program, "because if enough grass springs up
there, you're not going to get weeds growing too" (for more tips, see organiclandcare.net). Attract
insect-eating birds with bamboo houses ($26.51; www.mastergardenproducts.com, 800-574-7248).
Keep animals out of your garden with a water-spraying scarecrow ($79.95; www.safepetproducts.com,
877-231-1426).
Use organic compost instead of fertilizer, says Duesing. Use NOFA-approved Intervale ($15/20
qts.; www.gardeners.com, 888-833-1412) or Vermont Compost Plus ($10/20 qts.;
www.fedcoseeds.com, 207-873-7333). Or make your own (see Product Report, above).
Choose an alternative lawn cover, like fine-blade fescue, which requires less fertilizer and water
than traditional bluegrass or ryegrass, or plants native to your area (see your local USDA extension,
www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension).
Grow your lawn at least three inches tall for a deeper, stronger root system; any weeds that do
sprout will be blocked from the sun.
Choose tools made from sustainable wood or recycled plastic and rubber, not PVC (see
"Picnic Perfect Plastics"). See rain buckets, composters and hose at groworganic. com and
Wolf-Garten's 10-piece garden set ($124; www.omygarden.com, 800-692-9501).
Buy garden and lawn furniture made with FSC-certified wood from well managed forests
(www.earthsourcewood.com).
Retire your gas-powered lawn mower for a non-polluting hand-powered version ($99.95;
www.omygarden.com, 800-692-9501).
Resources
Straight-Ahead Organic, by Shepard Ogden ($24.95, Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999)
Maria Rodale's Organic Gardening ($35, Rodale Press, 1998)
Redesigning the American Lawn, by Bormann, Balmori and Geballe ($18, Yale University Press, 2001)