By Monique Bosch
Spring is coming. That means lawn care companies across the country are gearing up to spread more than 90 millions pounds of pesticides on our lawns. 
These companies are also fighting legislation to study the effects of these pesticides on our children.
They’re worried that the results may lead to a ban of the chemicals they can now spray all over our yards at rates two to four times greater than amounts used for agriculture.
Luckily, we now have organic alternatives to the dangerous “chemical lawn” approach, which is proving hazardous to the health of our children, pets and drinking water.
For more details on the dangers of pesticides go to Marty Yellin’s WestportNow article on Feb. 21, 2009.
Here are two approaches to getting a healthy, organic lawn at home:
Do it yourself. Your lawn can grow well without chemicals. Start in the spring by raking off any matted dead grass (thatch) and reseeding the bare spots.
You can do an easy soil test and, if needed, use organic fertilizers. For a complete list of organic products and where to buy them in and around Westport visit www.greenscapes.org.
Waiting to mow your grass until it reaches three inches and watering less often will encourage deeper roots and a healthier lawn. It also helps to aerate”your lawn to reduce soil compaction.
Work with a professional. There are many Northeast Organic Farming Association accredited organic land care professionals in our area.
Check out Connecticut’s NOFA site to find one near you: www.ctNOFA.org. There are 43 companies within 10 miles of Westport.
Ultimately, it’s time we recognize the “perfect lawn” for what it is: an unnatural monoculture, which can only be achieved by using toxic chemicals.
By changing our view of a healthy, beautiful lawn that includes nutrient rich clover and other species of grasses, we can keep our family healthy, our ground water clean and our future green.
For more information on organic lawn care or to join the National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns, click here.
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Editor’s note: Westport’s Green Village Initiative (GVI) is a grassroots group working to make Westport a model green community. Visit the GVI Web page here.
I hope this initiative succeeds. Many people who share my water supply; that is, the water that streams below our properties that we pump up from our wells, spray toxins, not only to maintain green lawns but to kill disease-bearing ticks. I am not happy about this, but I think that the only fair way to reduce the poisons would be with a town-wide ordinance.
Property ownership is not an absolute; it is only a bundle of rights. We need to consider the common good and limit exercise of those rights that damage the health and welfare of others.
Currently state law prevents the town from passing a stricter ordinance concerning pesticide use than the state’s own
regulation. Until this changes, Westporters
who want to protect themselves and their neighbors should
go by the principle: If you don’t want to drink it, don’t put it on your lawn. Educating others will also help, of course.
It would be very cool if towns banded together to change that particular state law. Industry was miles ahead of grassroots (no pun intended) activists in seeing this day would come.