“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
The ways you maintain your own backyard could pose threats to the health of your body and of those around you. Switching to methods that promote sustainability is the best plan of action you can take that will bring multiple positive benefits. Benefits that include not only cleaner air for the lungs to breath but also safer water to drink, soil to grow plants and vegetables in, and much much more.
The first step to making those changes is to find the motivation to want to make that effort: such as your health, your family’s health, your pets health, the world’s health. Then understand the difference between what is unsustainable and what is not. From here, you are equipped with the information and knowledge needed to make the necessary effort and take action.
Nature has the ability to do what pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and herbicides do but without the harmful impact on the environment and our own health. However, marketing tactics and the industry of lawn care equipment and products has markedly influenced the way people create lawns and green spaces. The perfection and beauty that is sought has become such a high priority that our own, our family’s, and our neighbor’s health gets overlooked. John Wargo, Ph.D and member of Environment and Human Health, Inc. states, “the price of aesthetics is often human exposure to chemicals recognized by the EPA to carry the risk of nervous system damage, hormonal effects, and cancer.” (5) All the spraying and the mowing and the blowing has a more adverse impact on human health, and your pet’s, than many realize.
When pesticides are sprayed, they drift in the air, they travel on shoes and feet, they end up in water, and according to the EPA, “97% of the pesticides used on residential lawns are possible or probable carcinogens.” (3) Studies have found 2,4-D, the most commonly used herbicide and also a constituent of Agent orange, in more the dust of more than 50% of the homes sampled (6). Pesticides can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled into the lungs and once in the body, they attack the central nervous system and other organs. These are intentionally toxic substances; they act no differently in the human body than they do for insects, and are especially harmful to children.
When you are browsing the aisles of sprays claiming to be non-toxic and safe, remember that it would be a mistake to fall for those buzzwords. The EPA does not have specific testing or assessment guidelines for pesticides used on lawns and gardens nor are there federal laws that require consumer warnings of long-term health hazards. Chemical manufacturers perform their own tests for human health hazards, which leaves the potential for data and results to get skewed, if tests are even performed. Even if the EPA refuses to register a product, the manufacturer can file a lawsuit, which keeps the untested product on the market. This should raise some red flags because you cannot unfailingly trust the labels and claims made regarding toxic products such as pesticides.
There are many ways to control the little buggers that like to eat your beautiful plants without releasing harmful particles into our environment. Nature has a certain way of keeping everything in balance. Insects such as ladybugs, centipedes & millipedes, and lacewings feast on the insects you try to kill with pesticides. And there are plants you can grow that will attract these beneficial bugs such as clover, marigold, and mint. There are tons of other options to get that beautiful lawn the natural way!
The first gas powered lawn mower was manufactured in 1919 but it was not until 1994 when the EPA decided to regulate emissions because they had found “… that 10 percent of the nation’s air pollution is generated by lawn and garden equipment.” (4). Gas powered equipment such as lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and weed whackers emit particles that can damage the respiratory system, create smog, and increase temperature.
Volatile organic compounds, or hydrocarbons, and nitrous oxides are released when oil and gas are burned; there are many human activities that burn oil and gas and have greatly increased the concentration of these pollutants, such as using a lawn mower. Hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides react with sunlight and heat and produce what is known as “ground-level ozone”, the main ingredient of smog. In the short run, smog can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat and provoke health problems like bronchitis, asthma, and chest pain. The longer ozone gas is inhaled the higher your risk of damaging lung tissue and chronic lung disease, especially for children and elderly.
You can easily lessen your carbon footprint by recycling your gas burning lawn equipment and using tools that promote sustainability such as reel or electric lawn mowers and hand sheers. Making this switch can also help lower potential risks of health issues from breathing in air that contains many harmful particles.
The first step to making those changes is to find the motivation to want to make that effort: such as your health, your family’s health, your pets health, the world’s health. Then understand the difference between what is unsustainable and what is not. From here, you are equipped with the information and knowledge needed to make the necessary effort and take action.
Nature has the ability to do what pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and herbicides do but without the harmful impact on the environment and our own health. However, marketing tactics and the industry of lawn care equipment and products has markedly influenced the way people create lawns and green spaces. The perfection and beauty that is sought has become such a high priority that our own, our family’s, and our neighbor’s health gets overlooked. John Wargo, Ph.D and member of Environment and Human Health, Inc. states, “the price of aesthetics is often human exposure to chemicals recognized by the EPA to carry the risk of nervous system damage, hormonal effects, and cancer.” (5) All the spraying and the mowing and the blowing has a more adverse impact on human health, and your pet’s, than many realize.
When pesticides are sprayed, they drift in the air, they travel on shoes and feet, they end up in water, and according to the EPA, “97% of the pesticides used on residential lawns are possible or probable carcinogens.” (3) Studies have found 2,4-D, the most commonly used herbicide and also a constituent of Agent orange, in more the dust of more than 50% of the homes sampled (6). Pesticides can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled into the lungs and once in the body, they attack the central nervous system and other organs. These are intentionally toxic substances; they act no differently in the human body than they do for insects, and are especially harmful to children.
When you are browsing the aisles of sprays claiming to be non-toxic and safe, remember that it would be a mistake to fall for those buzzwords. The EPA does not have specific testing or assessment guidelines for pesticides used on lawns and gardens nor are there federal laws that require consumer warnings of long-term health hazards. Chemical manufacturers perform their own tests for human health hazards, which leaves the potential for data and results to get skewed, if tests are even performed. Even if the EPA refuses to register a product, the manufacturer can file a lawsuit, which keeps the untested product on the market. This should raise some red flags because you cannot unfailingly trust the labels and claims made regarding toxic products such as pesticides.
There are many ways to control the little buggers that like to eat your beautiful plants without releasing harmful particles into our environment. Nature has a certain way of keeping everything in balance. Insects such as ladybugs, centipedes & millipedes, and lacewings feast on the insects you try to kill with pesticides. And there are plants you can grow that will attract these beneficial bugs such as clover, marigold, and mint. There are tons of other options to get that beautiful lawn the natural way!
The first gas powered lawn mower was manufactured in 1919 but it was not until 1994 when the EPA decided to regulate emissions because they had found “… that 10 percent of the nation’s air pollution is generated by lawn and garden equipment.” (4). Gas powered equipment such as lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and weed whackers emit particles that can damage the respiratory system, create smog, and increase temperature.
Volatile organic compounds, or hydrocarbons, and nitrous oxides are released when oil and gas are burned; there are many human activities that burn oil and gas and have greatly increased the concentration of these pollutants, such as using a lawn mower. Hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides react with sunlight and heat and produce what is known as “ground-level ozone”, the main ingredient of smog. In the short run, smog can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat and provoke health problems like bronchitis, asthma, and chest pain. The longer ozone gas is inhaled the higher your risk of damaging lung tissue and chronic lung disease, especially for children and elderly.
You can easily lessen your carbon footprint by recycling your gas burning lawn equipment and using tools that promote sustainability such as reel or electric lawn mowers and hand sheers. Making this switch can also help lower potential risks of health issues from breathing in air that contains many harmful particles.
Labor
Another major area of potential human and environmental damage from lawn care products and practices are the laborers. Despite the fact that 81% of farmworkers report Spanish as their native language and 44% of landscaping employees are Hispanic or Latino, pesticide labels are only required to be printed in English. The warnings, the instructions, and the first aid instructions are basically inaccessible for the majority of people who work in the industry. This can put a huge burden on employers and supervisors needing to figure out how to translate this information in order to protect their employees.
Without the knowledge on the risks and how to use, there is a high potential for misuse, and excess harm or damage to the worker, the environment, and anyone else. It is vital that all people, no matter the language they speak, have access to the safety information and understand the risks involved. Including Spanish label on pesticides and other chemicals would be a huge step towards preventative risk management.
Another major area of potential human and environmental damage from lawn care products and practices are the laborers. Despite the fact that 81% of farmworkers report Spanish as their native language and 44% of landscaping employees are Hispanic or Latino, pesticide labels are only required to be printed in English. The warnings, the instructions, and the first aid instructions are basically inaccessible for the majority of people who work in the industry. This can put a huge burden on employers and supervisors needing to figure out how to translate this information in order to protect their employees.
Without the knowledge on the risks and how to use, there is a high potential for misuse, and excess harm or damage to the worker, the environment, and anyone else. It is vital that all people, no matter the language they speak, have access to the safety information and understand the risks involved. Including Spanish label on pesticides and other chemicals would be a huge step towards preventative risk management.
Around the World
The American dream not only includes freedom, success, and prosperity but also a home surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn. Not a single country rivals the energy, money, or time spent on achieving the lush green piece of the American dream. Between homes and golf courses, lawns cover approximately 50 million acres of America, about the size of Texas; it is no wonder the landscaping and maintenance industry has grown to the largest at $75 billion dollars. The next closest country is Australia with an industry worth $3 billion.
Unfortunately, this leading industry applies methods that are not only unsustainable but are also extensively harmful to the global environment. “In the Antarctic ice pack alone there are 2.4 million pounds of DDT and its metabolites from years past.” (3) While there is no way to trace pollution that has reached far corners of the world back to America, it does not change the fact that something needs to be done. America is the leading country in pesticide use, with the largest industry, and thus the apparent responsibility that America take action.
Making changes in the methods you use to maintain your own lawn or in your lawn care business, is a simple and effective step to affect the environment in a positive way. It is just as possible to impact the environment in a hugely beneficial way as it has been to impact it in the harmful ways we all have so far. The way we treat the Earth will directly affect human life. The air we breath, the plants that grow in the dirt, the water we drink are all affected by our actions but are also all things we need to live. We breath the polluted air, we eat the plants that grow in dying soil, we drink the contaminated water and it all affects our health. We cannot live without the Earth, and we cannot live healthy lives on a polluted, contaminated Earth. If nothing else, let your own health and that of your family’s be your motivation for practicing sustainable methods. After all, is green lawn more important than quality of life?
The American dream not only includes freedom, success, and prosperity but also a home surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn. Not a single country rivals the energy, money, or time spent on achieving the lush green piece of the American dream. Between homes and golf courses, lawns cover approximately 50 million acres of America, about the size of Texas; it is no wonder the landscaping and maintenance industry has grown to the largest at $75 billion dollars. The next closest country is Australia with an industry worth $3 billion.
Unfortunately, this leading industry applies methods that are not only unsustainable but are also extensively harmful to the global environment. “In the Antarctic ice pack alone there are 2.4 million pounds of DDT and its metabolites from years past.” (3) While there is no way to trace pollution that has reached far corners of the world back to America, it does not change the fact that something needs to be done. America is the leading country in pesticide use, with the largest industry, and thus the apparent responsibility that America take action.
Making changes in the methods you use to maintain your own lawn or in your lawn care business, is a simple and effective step to affect the environment in a positive way. It is just as possible to impact the environment in a hugely beneficial way as it has been to impact it in the harmful ways we all have so far. The way we treat the Earth will directly affect human life. The air we breath, the plants that grow in the dirt, the water we drink are all affected by our actions but are also all things we need to live. We breath the polluted air, we eat the plants that grow in dying soil, we drink the contaminated water and it all affects our health. We cannot live without the Earth, and we cannot live healthy lives on a polluted, contaminated Earth. If nothing else, let your own health and that of your family’s be your motivation for practicing sustainable methods. After all, is green lawn more important than quality of life?