A Pesticide-Free School

Congratulations to Green Guide subscriber Michele Hertz, who has persuaded the public schools in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, to stop using toxic pesticides on their grounds. A sculptor and mother of two, Michele became concerned about pesticides in schools after drift from a 1998 spraying of her neighbor's yard gave her a suspected hormonal imbalance.

Michele contacted her school district's grounds supervisor, who informed her that herbicides were applied to school lawns and athletic fields. She then called the ground-maintenance company and requested Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), which describe chemicals contained in products and their possible health risks. "I was shocked to read that some chemicals that they had applied were suspected of causing cancer," Michele says.

She gathered information on the effects of pesticides on children from her county health department and the New York Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NYCAP), then hand-delivered her findings, along with the MSDS for the herbicides used on school grounds, to each member of the district school board. "School boards are usually made up of parents, and they'll listen as long as you don't treat them like adversaries," Michele says. At the next school board meeting, in March 1999, she read aloud a letter signed by over 100 parents, requesting that the district refrain from further spraying, and providing toxin-free lawn-care tips from an expert in Integrated Pest Management. The board enacted a six-month moratorium on pesticide applications that night.

Michele says she'll continue to push for a permanent ban on spraying, but feels positive about the changes so far. A year later, no herbicides have been applied. "It takes more labor to keep the weeds out and the fields seeded, but it's going okay," reports George Foster, the district supervisor of buildings and grounds.

Resources:

The Green Guide #44

NYCAP, 518/426-8246, www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/nycap

Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, 541/344-5044, www.pesticide.org