Toxics Info



THE POPULAR “LESS TOXIC LANDSCAPING” PROJECT HAS A NEW APPROACH FOR 2011

1. THIS SLIMMER PRINTED “GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE”

WITH UPDATED HOW TO FIND IT ADVICE, SOME HUMOR,

AND SOME OF THE MOST HELPFUL RESOURCES

**Important – if you have already been benefiting from previous Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directories – share this one with neighbors, friends & family. It is the most user-friendly for busy people, & just as informative.

2. THE EXPANDED TIP WEBSITE RESOURCE CENTER

**A place to find the same organic-friendly sources for supplies, information and services as in our printed LTL directories - updated as needed, not just once a year. Check it out at:

3. BRINGING THE EXPERTS TO YOU!

**At the RI Flower & Garden Show - see schedule at our booth for who will be available there to answer your questions.

**At your group or school meetings or events. Watch for

a list of exciting and informative speakers you can invite.

WHAT’S “ORGANIC FRIENDLY”?

**When they know their organic stuff & don’t try to talk you into anything else (like “weed & seed” & other chemical “fixes”!)

GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE

(For Rhode Island & Southeastern New England)

The New 2011 Replacement for the Popular

Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directory

THE UNIQUE GUIDE TO ORGANIC-FRIENDLY LAND CARE & GARDENING – WHY, HOW, & WHO CAN HELP

Compiled & Edited by Liberty Goodwin

©2011 Liberty Goodwin

UNCHANGED: THE BASICS OF HEALTHY

LANDSCAPING & GARDENING

**Pesticides Are A Quick Fix That Fades

**Pesticides Are Poison & Humans Are Not Immune

**You, Your Kids & Pets – Are The Guinea Pigs

**Chemicals Are Addictive - the Cost Goes on Forever

**The Natives (Plants) Like The Local Climate!

**Organic Has Had Centuries Of Testing

**Lawns Are Dull! (Like Toxic Green Rugs)

**Healthy Kids & Pets At Play Delight The Eye!

From: TOXICS INFORMATION PROJECT (TIP)

P.O. Box 40572, Providence, RI 02940

Tel. 401-351-9193, E-Mail: ltl@

Website:

(Technical Production Assistance: Paul Klinkman)

EASY WAYS TO HELP TIP AND

HELP YOUR HEALTH & PLANET AS WELL !

TAKE US SURFING & SHOPPING!

Every Time You Search or Shop - at default.aspx or goodshop.aspx

with Toxics Information Project (TIP) as your charity, we will receive a donation from the site. (Many store selections)

When you shop at in our name, they’ll give us a percentage of the purchase price (Varies with the store, lots of sites included).

welcome/warmwelcome.cfm?c=38382&m=0

OR JUST DONATE DIRECTLY TO TIP -

Go to: subscribe.htm

Choose what you can afford to give from the suggested membership & donation categories, fill out the form, pay by credit card or PayPal online, or send a check with your contact info. Questions? Call 401-351-9193

VISIT THE TIP BOOKSTORE FOR IDEAS!

Browse on our website at: tipstore.htm

We are phasing out our own book sales, but adding new suggestions for great books periodically.

Choose from the informative and fun titles there, and order using Igive or GoodShop to benefit TIP.

TIP is an official 501C3 Non-Profit organization,

so all contributions are tax-deductible!

NOTES

PERSONAL CONFESSION:

TIP Director Liberty G. is a confirmed and unrepentant “alliteration addict”.

Definition of “alliteration”?

Example: “Peter Piper Picked A Peck Of Pickled Peppers”.

Note: “P” words are particularly pervasive & problematic.

(See P. 3 & 4 for more proof of that)

+

TWO THINGS QUITE DIFFERENT: A NO-HEAT COST GREENHOUSE & AN ORGANIC LAND CARE CHARITY

KLINKMAN SOLAR DESIGN

Paul Klinkman & Liberty Goodwin, Owners

Providence, RI 02906 Tel. 401-351-9193 E-mail: paul@ Web:

Grow vegetables all winter in your own sustainable no-heat greenhouse – or use it as a sunspace or for supplementary heat for your home or business. The KSD patent-pending, affordable, concentrating solar greenhouse delivers sunshine & retains good heat even in midwinter. Normal building materials, insulation and thermal mass are used instead of a chemical-venting plastic skin or heat-leaking glass. Come visit the 16-foot prototype greenhouse in Attleboro.

***************************************************************************

EXCITING NEW CHARITY – “SIMPLY SAFER FOUNDATION” WILL HELP SCHOOLS & COMMUNITIES GO ORGANIC!

The new Simply Safer Foundation (SSF) will provide organic lawn care (fertilizing, weed control, insect control, etc.) to parks, athletic fields, municipal lawns, & church grounds. They will improve the turf on which kids play sports in a way that eliminates chemical use & potential toxic exposure to children & the environment.

Mike Powers, SSF founder & organic land care professional, will donate care for 5 or 6 fields & schools for free this year. He hopes to work with other groups that help share costs, which will be less than Chemlawn & yield a better job using all organic products.

These activities will need funding for raw materials (fertilizers, limestone, grass seed, mulch, compost, topsoil, etc.), to rent & purchase equipment (trucks, trailers, hydroseeders, spreaders, topdressers.), to lease or buy office & storage/maintenance space & to hire employees. SSF will operate as a public charity & seek donations of time, materials, money. CONTACT: Mike Powers, 508-922-0509, Saferlawncare@

THE 2011 GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE

TIPs on Being Organic-Friendly & Sources

for Information, Supplies & Services

© 2011, Liberty Goodwin

TABLE OF CONTENTS

P. 2 WHY NOT PESTICIDES?

P. 3 PESTICIDE HUMOR

P. 4 ORGANICS – CAN THEY DO THE JOB?

P. 5 ORGANICS – HUMOR

P. 6 –7 LAWN FLAG SONG & PESTICIDE THOUGHTS

P. 8 HOW TO FIND RESOURCES FOR YOURSELF

P. 9 -15 SAMPLE RESOURCES FOR INFO, SERVICES & SUPPLIES

P. 16 AND NOW FOR SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT!

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE EXTRA MATERIAL ON OUR WEBSITE. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ADDING MORE ORGANIC-FRIENDLY RESOURCES & ARTICLES AT:

WHY NOT USE PESTICIDES IN MY YARD?

**PESTICIDES ARE POISON. That’s why they are used – they kill things (bugs, bacteria, plants – and animals).

**HUMANS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PESTICIDES. Animal testing is done because the canary or rat will show results sooner, and human testing is dangerous, and unethical. Nevertheless, many studies show that serious health effects are associated with exposure to the toxic chemicals in commonly used pesticide products.

**LOW LEVELS = SLOW POISONING. Large amounts of toxic chemicals cause acute, immediate reactions, even death. Smaller, dilute exposures cause damage over time.

**YOU, YOUR KIDS & PETS – ARE THE GUINEA PIGS. The pattern is simple. Most testing is not done by government, (and companies have been successfully sued for lying about safety findings). Products are approved for marketing, based on manufacturers’ claims. Years later, some of them are removed from the market because they have proved to be dangerous to animals, the environment, or humans. DDT & Dursban are examples. Others are in process of removal.

**ANYONE FOR A CHEMICAL COCKTAIL? What you put on your lawn winds up in the ground water, and you may be drinking it. Studies are finding household chemicals, including pesticides, in streams and wells. Most municipal water treatment does not remove them.

THE WORM LADIES OF CHARLESTOWN

161 East Beach Road, Charlestown, RI 02813

Nancy Warner, 401-322-7675; Susie Fehrmann , 845-559-4561

Website: , E-Mail: wormladies@.,

Red Wiggler Worms (Eisenia Fedita) for composting household & garden waste. The worms produce "castings" from the waste, making a great soil enhancer & high nutrient plant food. Composters & starter kits are also carried. Check the website for their Open Houses, Workshops, Clinics & Schedule of Events.

SUPPLIES & SERVICES

THE GOOD EARTH ORGANIC GARDENING CENTER

1800 Scituate Ave., Hope, RI 02831

Joyce & John Holscher, 401-826-3130, info@ Website:

The Good Earth is RI's only certified organic gardening center. They grow organic herb & vegetable plants, plants with edible flowers, "Heirloom" varieties like tomato plants & certified organic produce. Fertilizers & pest control products sold are approved for organic land care. They also sell flowering plants & shrubs, grown without chemical pesticides, but not "certified organic".

PRUDENT PRINCIPLES FOR PREVENTING PUTRID

PESTICIDE POISONING OF PEOPLE & PETS IN

PROXIMITY TO PERSONAL PALACE & PROPERTY.

SPURRING YOURSELF TO ANTI-PESTICIDE ACTION

1.Spend 12 hours straight staring a toxic green rug (“lawn”) containing 200,000 identical sprigs of 2-inch high straight green sticks (“lawn”), with no variations or life in sight. (Get your spouse to poke you out of your stupor as you doze off from boredom}.

2. Do an audit of the hours of work, costs of chemical applications, expense for veterinarians and people doctors incurred by maintenance of that “perfect” pesticided plot. Spend the money saved by shedding that on a trip to Hawaii.

PESTICIDE-FREE NEIGHBORHOOD OPTIONS

1. Live in the NYC borough of Manhattan, where there are no lawns, and no weeds.

2. Ensure that your neighbors are members of Sierra Club, Audubon, Clean Water Action, ASPCA, Greenpeace, PETA, and the Wild Plant Society. They’ll be all organic.

3. Start a neighborhood movement to replace lawns with tennis, badminton & volley ball courts, playgrounds, bike path mazes, covered dance floors (for neighborhood parties) & ping pong tables. Become a local hero when the group loses an aggregate total of 2,000 pounds from the resulting exercise.

4. Plan a “Peer Pressure Posse” to stand in front of a pesticided property, & laugh loudly together at the little green sticks on the “lawn” (If an application was recent, wear carbon filter masks to avoid being overcome by pesticide fumes). They’ll switch – or move.

HOW ABOUT EFFECTIVENESS & LOOKS

(And Cost!) – CAN ORGANIC METHODS DELIVER?

**PESTICIDES ARE A QUICK FIX THAT FADES. They provide instant gratification, but long term, they are not really good for your lawn. Natural means, in general, take a bit longer to “work”, but offer more long-lasting solutions. Cost, however, goes on forever with pesticide-based gardening. Organic land care becomes less expensive when established.

**ORGANIC HAS HAD CENTURIES OF TESTING. Folks have been gardening and farming organically for thousands of years. Today, they are doing it even better.

**THE NATIVES LIKE THE CLIMATE! Native plant species, an important part of less-toxic gardening, thrive in local conditions. They have fewer problems, and require less care than fragile foreigners.

**LAWNS ARE DULL! The typical American lawn, consisting of thousands of little green shoots, all sporting the same crew cut, isn’t very interesting. It’s rather like a toxic green rug. Bushes, shrubs, flowers, rocks, bricks, and other alternative landscaping options can be unique, creative, exciting!

**HEALTHY KIDS AND PETS AT PLAY DELIGHT THE EYE AND WARM THE HEART! How much is it worth to have the peace of mind of knowing your favorite critters can romp and roll around in your yard without being exposed to dangerous toxins?

HERETICAL STATEMENT:

“Weeds” = Pretty, unPlanned Plants Presented & Provided by a greater Power as a Pleasant surPrise.

CHIP OSBORNE, OSBORNE ORGANICS

11 Laurel Street, Marblehead, MA 01945

, Tel. 781-631-2468, E-Mail: co@

Website:

Consulting service for business, municipal, institutional, & residential clients, to create & maintain natural, self-sustaining turf without synthetic fertilizers & chemical pesticides. On-site evaluations, public presentations; product specs, maintenance schedules; construction design; training programs: Chip is a foremost authority on organic land care, especially turf.

(See also Living Lawn Project listing)

SHARON VIEW NURSERY (AMERICAN LANDSCAPE LLC)

Jim Zoppo, 630 S. Main St., Sharon, MA 02067

Tel. 781-784-5858, E-Mail: jfzoppo@

Website: american-

Organic & natural fertilizers, plant food, soil amendments. Large & hard to find trees & shrubs, statuary, garden accents, pottery, plants. Horticultural Consulting, Garden & Landscape Design & Renovation, Masonry, Irrigation. Visit the new, state-of-the-art greenhouse! Informed personnel, in Sharon & on weekly Garden Guys radio show: (garden-)

RIVER STONE DEVELOPMENT, LLC, Patrick Merner

89 County Drive, Charlestown RI 02813, 401-741-3035

E-Mail: riverstonedevelopment@

Years of experience with 100% Organic landscape & lawn care in southern RI. Now provides commercial organic lawn services (playgrounds, ballfields, etc). Lawn renovation services include dethatching, topdressing with compost, aeration, overseeding with a grass blend that deters insect problems, Milky Spore powder with a lifetime guarantee against beetle grubs damage. Moving towards green building with focus on native materials & masonry.

NANCY WEISS-FRIED, Garden Designer

10 Pleasant Hill Road, Cranston, RI 02910

Tel. 401-943-3743, E-Mail: nwf_la@

Nancy designs gardens & works with owners who want to install the gardens themselves, in RI & nearby MA. With a degree in landscape architecture, her designs emphasize native plants, are ecologically sound, & provide a living space for people too. As a Master Gardener active in the RI Wild Plant Society, she teaches sustainable gardening practices.

OPTIMAL ORGANIC OUTCOMES/APPROACHES

**Where the Wild Things Are: Native plants, bushes & flowers covering all of your grounds, happily proliferating without human help. Advantages:

No mowing, No sowing No spraying. A place to hide?

**Walkways, Inanimate Spaces & Structures

Tiles, stone fences, statues & patios. (Also Bushes – especially if you’re Republican - or want a place to hide) Advantages: Same as above + no watering needed.

** Garden Glory: Grow your own food & decorative plantings. Better still, persuade your spouse to become an avid gardener, engaging in healthful exercise such as hoeing and weeding! Advantages: Same as above, except that you’ll get yummy organic fare, (and you may NEED a place to hide).

**Sharecropping: Allow a friend or neighbor to farm your land, and take a share in the harvest as your reward. Advantages: Same as #3.

**The “Snowbird Approach”: FRONT: Approach #1 or 2,

BACK: Natural, low maintenance grass & clover,

Advantages: The front looks pretty to impress the Joneses. The back keeps the kids active and healthy.

GET YOUR TOWN OR SCHOOL TO GO ORGANIC!

SEE RESOURCES ON P. 11-18 (ONE IS FREE!)

THE LAWN FLAGS SONG

By Paul Klinkman

I’m sorry that birds don’t read the little flags on the lawn.

They ought to wait for three whole days

Until the flags are gone

They hop around the lawn. They get stuff on their feet

And soon they get a pesticided Wiggly worm to eat.

Wiggly worm to eat

I’m sorry that cats won’t read.

They’re smart enough but they don’t.

They ought to read those little lawn flags

But as you know they won’t.

They ought to wash their paws In the sink like people do

But all they want is to drag home birds.

Mew – Mew – Mew. Mew – Mew – Mew.

I’m sorry that dogs don’t read. It’s really an awful pain

The dogs come through the doggie door

And shake off all the rain

I’m sorry that kids don’t read. You know they really should

But once in a while they try to eat some

Bugs – dirt – wood. Bugs – dirt – wood.

The studies and statistics have gotten pretty blue

I’m sorry adults don’t read I would if I were you

I’m sorry adults don’t read It really is a crime

But taking care of kids and pets

They never find the time. They never find the time

So if you see some yellow upon your nice green lawn,

Please spare the neighbors’ kids

Don’t use that weed -be-gone

You’re supposed to love your neighbor

You’re living cheek by jowl

So if you see a dandelion

Dig it with a trowel. Dig it with a trowel

DESIGN, CONSULTING & SERVICES

FRANK CRANDALL, HORTICULTURAL SERVICES

PO Box 132, Wood River Junction, RI 02894

E-Mail: FrankCrandall3@

Homeowner Services: Horticultural designs, small installations, organic plant health care, selective pruning, landscape assessments, southern RI and Southeast CT. Horticultural Businesses: consultations, seminars on estimating, attracting employees, job costing, sales tips, and management suggestions, speaking engagements, and offering my new book for sale:

(The Essential Horticultural Business Handbook).

DANA DESIGNS... NATURALLY, Dana K. Millar

32 Hillsdale Road, West Kingston, RI 02892

401-486-0495, dkmillar@

All Organic Installation, Maintenance, Restoration.

Plants Not Doing What you Want? Often, the organic precept of “Right Plant, Right Place” prevents problems. Dana can improve the well being of your plants & grasses by: removal, pruning, thinning, aerating, raking, top dressing, mowing, mulching, & de-thatching. With this, a soil analysis as a basis for the organic land care program he provides. Dana is a NOFA Accredited Land Care Professional.

TELL THEM YOU SAW IT IN

THE GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE!

MARBLEHEAD PESTICIDE AWARENESS COMMITTEE

Chip Osborne, Marblehead, MA 01945. Tel. 781-631-2468  

Web: . E-Mail: info@

Model: A Living Lawn...A Lawn for Living: Marblehead's Organic Lawn & Garden Demonstration Project: A testimonial to benefits of organic lawn care - beautiful, self-sustaining, healthy turf. Also, Seasonal Classes on “Simple Steps Towards Organic Lawn Care”, Audio-Visual: "People Places and Plants" – a DVD on how Marblehead went organic on town land, including athletic fields.

NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF RI,

Dan Lawton, Contact. 247 Evans Road, Chepachet, RI 02814, 401 523-2653, nofari@,

NOFA-RI is an organization of farmers, consumers, gardeners, & environmentalists working to promote organic farming & organic land care practices through advocacy and education. The goal is to increase the acreage of organically managed land and access to local organic food in RI.

RHODE ISLAND WILD PLANT SOCIETY (RIWPS)

Jules A. Cohen, President, P.O. Box 414, Exeter, RI 02822,

Tel. 401-789-RIWPS (789-7497) E-MAIL: office@

Web: RIWPS advocates for preservation of native plants & habitats, offers guided nature walks, educational programs, garden tours, & events. They publish a newsletter, “Wildflora”, Invasive Species Alerts, & monthly E-Newsletter (subscribe on website). Volunteer propagators (Seedstarters) grow wildflowers to sell at plant sales. They specialize in plants for difficult situations like dry shade, moist places, sandy soils, etc.

SOUTHSIDE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST (SCLT)

109 Somerset Street, Providence, RI 02907

Website: (401) 273-9419

E-mail: sclt@

SCLT oversees the Providence Community Growers Network, which connects and supports community gardens, home gardens, and market gardens throughout the city. It offers regular workshops related to growing food through the Plant Providence calendar () as well as educational programs for youth, and holds an annual rare and unusual plant sale in May.

LESS HUMOROUS NOTES –

PESTICIDE APPLICATION RESULTS

TIP is aware of significant numbers of people & animals that have been harmed by pesticide applications. These include:

**Fleeing Canaries: People, especially in Florida, often flee their homes to escape the illness brought on by neighbors’ spraying. Some are permanently sick & chemically sensitive as a result of previous exposure to agricultural or residential lawn pesticide applications, & have a difficult time finding any place to live that doesn’t trigger adverse reactions.

**Kids & Toxic Play: Children in Georgia were taken to the hospital from a soccer field because of asthma attacks triggered by pesticide treatment of the playing area.

**Pet Poisoning Reports. At TIP’s booth various visitors told us of 5 different cats & 4 dogs dying from lawn chemicals, & one cat getting sick but recovering. Worse, a man who used to work as customer service rep for a large lawn care company said that over half his job was going to people’s homes, picking up dead animals off lawns & offering compensation to owners.

**A Lasting Headache: TIP Director Liberty G. once went to her bank & saw pesticide applicators outside, treating the tiny grassy space. Hurrying inside, she got a terrible headache & could smell the stuff permeating the small building. Leaving, she learned that it was Monsanto’s Round-Up. The pesticide headache persisted for days, unlike brief ones after exposures to fragrance chemicals,

BE A GOOD & HEALTHY NEIGHBOR, PARENT,

& PET OWNER! GO ORGANIC! (

HOW CAN YOU FIND YOUR OWN

FAVORITE – AND BEST – RESOURCES?

(How to Get the Real Scoop)

THE PROBLEM: TOO MUCH INFORMATION – AND LOTS OF “GREENWASHING”. Huge amounts of info & advice on how to do successful organic gardening is out there, in books, magazines, websites, on the radio. But, who’s got time to find and digest much of it? And, lots of retailers and services claim to be “green” – but many are fibbing!

**EXPERTS SAVE TIME. A person who knows is the quickest, best advisor. Non-profit organizations are a useful, objective source of information. Also, some people selling supplies & services really understand & encourage organic gardening,

**SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL. Large retailers tend to sell products from big corporations – usually synthetic chemical brews. They have many employees coming & going, & don’t train in organic gardening. So, you never know who you might get – today someone helpful, tomorrow a person who is clueless. Smaller retailers emphasize service, & are often run by an owner who thinks organic, and hires others that do also.

**LOOK FOR AN ORGANIC-FRIENDLY ATTITUDE. When you call or go in, will you be encouraged or discouraged from using less toxic means and materials?

**SEEK THOSE WHO OFFER LOTS OF LESS TOXIC OPTIONS. Nobody’s perfect – and few are 100% organic. But sources that believe in healthier methods and materials have more organically oriented services & supplies than those that don’t, and can help you better to choose and use them.

TELL THEM YOU SAW IT IN

THE GROUNDS & GARDENS GUIDE!

RESOURCES FOR INFORMATION

**BEYOND PESTICIDES,

701 E St. SE, Washington, DC 20003. Tel. 202-543-5450

Contact: Stephanie Davio. info@

ALSO: National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns:

pesticidefreelawns These folks offer helpful brochures, packets, articles & contacts online & at their office to help you care for your lawn without using pesticides. They follow local & national legislative actions, promote alternatives to toxic pesticides & hold an annual National Pesticide Forum.

ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPING ASSOCIATION,

841 Worcester Rd, #326, Natick, MA 01760

Penny Lewis, Executive Director, @

Tel. 617-436-5838. Website:

Are you concerned about the health of the lawn your family & pets play on? Do you want to learn to develop healthy soils, maintain an ecological lawn, harness rainwater potential, control invasive species, produce edible landscapes and more? Attend an ELA educational event soon. See: events

-----------------------

§ Native Garden

Restorations

§ Garden Design with

Native Plants

RI Certified Horticulturalist

Elm Street Gardens

Jenifer LoVetere

38 Elm Street

Westerly, Rhode Island

Phone: 401-714-2239

Fax: 401-315-2549

E-mail: jeniferlovetere@

Web:

Paul Thompson: 401-861-3616 (cell) 401-368-0832

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