A new Westport group is promoting environmentally responsible lawns and gardens.
The GreenScapes Action Project will be on hand at Saturday’s Green Earth Fair at Westport’s Earthplace, The Nature Discovery Center, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to launch its “GreenScapes Challenge.”
The challenge involves residents “committing to a more responsible path,” the group said, and those participating will receive a lawn medallion declaring their commitment to environmental responsibility.
“If you’re interested, we’ll use ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of your lawn or garden to acknowledge your efforts in the fall,” the group said in a news release.
Headed by Westporters John Hartwell and Jonathan Steinberg, the effort is aimed at raising public awareness of the environmental dangers that come with manicured green lawns and multi-hued gardens.
“The fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides many of us use end up in the groundwater, streams and wetlands and, eventually, Long Island Sound,” the news release said.
“These noxious chemicals not only harm fish and wildlife; they pose a risk to our children, our pets, and ourselves.”
The group urged Earth Fair attendees to visit its tent to learn more about the challenge, obtain its “GreenScaping” brochure and free soil testing kits, and information about lawn care providers and products.
There will be two 30-minute organic lawn care seminars at noon and 2 p.m. presented by a representative the Northeast Organic Farmers Association, it said.
“This summer, begin the process of moving away from the American icon of a manicured ‘green carpet’ and towards a more natural, diverse landscape in keeping with our New England heritage,” the release said.
For more information, contact John Hartwell at 216-1425 or Jonathan Steinberg at 722-7477. or visit the group’s Web site.
Excellent that this group is building awareness of the issue. I don’t personally allow pesticides on my lawn, nor do I spray trees, with the exception of nontoxic horticultural oil, which suffocates the wooly adelgid that infect and eventually suck the life out of hemlocks. However, some use poisons on their lawns, often and perhaps understandably to kill ticks, so I wonder about the quality of our water supply. The aquifer runs under all our properties; poisons probably wash down through the soil to the waters below, which we then pump up for use.
Perhaps the town could initiate a water testing program for all neighborhoods that can detect dangerous levels of chemical poisons in addition to e coli bacteria. If a significant problem is found, the town might then consider regulating the use of poisonous lawn and tree products.
Nina, I doubt that the town has the resources for what you suggest. However, Earthplace’s River Watch portion of Harbor/River Watch does a great job. Area waterways are tested for e coli etc. and during the summer many volunteer students from area high schools participate.
Almost 20 years ago River Watch got off the ground in our back yard on the Saugatuck River via a presentation made
before the then first selectman, various town officials and representatives from what was then Bridgeport Hydraulic.
At that time a brochure about protecting the river was developed and mailed to each Westport homeowner along the Saugatuck. It made a difference. But that was a long time ago.
Being involved with the Saugatuck River Watershed Partnership and River Watch through Earthplace, it is brought home again and again how difficult it is to get people to understand and care that living on an aquifer requires some responsibilities. As a realtor told me recently,“People buying property on the river just want to do their own thing.” There is a lot of information available, but getting people interested in it is another story.
Janet Beasley
Perhaps the Westport Health Department could set up a testing program for interested Westport residents to have their well water tested for for toxic chemicals, the cost of the tests to be paid by the individual homeowners. Homeowners may be under the mistaken impression that if their water tested negative for e coli bacteria only, it is therefore clean and clear of poisons and therefore safe to use and ingest.
After the last three years of the whole Y to Mahackeno process, I am now fairly confident the T of Westport has no interest or concern, none, with regard to what happens to the acquifer that Aquarion’s intake wells sit on top of in Westport. Unless it is somehow going to get in the way of a favored intiative moving forward, that is – then they will disregard or rebut the concerns raised.
That’s my observation, anyway.
The Greenscapes website has information on why to stop using chemicals and how to detox your lawn.
http://www.greenscapesaction.org
Take the Challenge!!!
See you at Earthplace for the Green Earth Fair, Saturday 11-4pm. Looks like it will be a beautiful day.
I always use Scott’s fertilizer and grub control to take care of the lawn. That gives the kids a nice thick lawn to play baseball on and helps to recycle the CO2. I guess it all evens out.
Two hundred years ago, there were people who didn’t believe that little germs (bacteria) could hurt us, because they couldn’t see them. Our senses are not always the best judge of what’s good for us, especially in the age of industrial chemicals.
Unfortunately, the lawn care industry has done an excellent job of ensuring that Americans believe “weed ‘n’ feed” products are safe, largely because we can walk on the lawns right after treatment with no apparent ill effect. At the same time, our eyes tell us these products promote “natural” growth; we trust our government to protect us from dangerous chemicals; and we don’t want to believe that what we’ve been doing to our lawns for years could be compromising our future health.
There is ample evidence that pesticides such as “grub control” are linked to leukemia in children. (I am the sad owner of such knowledge because I have a child who acquired leukemia at age 3.)
The Greenscapes press release, quoted above, is based in solid (and unbiased) science. While lawns— like forests and savannahs—do help with CO2, you don’t need chemicals and artificial fertilizers to grow one. For grubs, for example, you can use nematodes….NOFA is a great resource.
Regarding well-water testing: We test ours every few years and the (carcinogenic) nitrate level has been steadily rising. It’s not just pesticides that are the problem—it’s synthetic fertilizer, too.