Posts Tagged ‘Pesticides’

Maryland Pesticide Education Network (MPEN) and its Smart on Pesticides Coalition of 115 organizations and businesses heralded the warning about PFAS being found in the State’s mosquito control pesticide, which we had tested, and is sprayed often weekly in 2,100 communities. MPEN sought media coverage during Maryland’s 2023 Maryland General Assembly session and the resulting press coverage elevated the issue greatly.

The ability to deliver on longstanding community demands for transparency in pesticide use in Hawaii is a major milestone for the Hawai’i Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA) and our community partners… this milestone finally allows communities to have access to what pesticide use occurs adjacent to their homes, schools, waterways and other sensitive areas.

Eco-Friendly Parks for All, a coalition of  environmental, public health and political action organizations has teamed  up with Beyond Pesticides, New York City Parks and Recreation Department, and Stonyfield Organic Yogurt to celebrate the success of pilot organic land  management programs at eight sites across the five boroughs. The demonstration programs were initiated by the coalition after the city council adopted new legislation in 2021 prohibiting the use of  chemical pesticides on all NYC parks.

We’re living in a crucial time for action and we have structured our work to meet the existential challenges to health and the environment as we collaborate with communities across the country and globally. We educate on the hazards of pesticide dependency and bring hands-on support to put in place organic land management programs for parks, playing fields, school yards, and open space. Watch the video for a reflection on 40 years at Beyond Pesticides…

“This legislation represents the most comprehensive restriction of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers on public lands in a major county in the US,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of the nonprofit Beyond Pesticides. “It represents a clear commitment to the elimination of petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers and an incredibly important effort to confront the climate crisis, biodiversity collapse, and the protection of the health of workers and communities.”

SB 1602 is a compilation of legislative initiatives Beyond Toxics has introduced over the past five years. Based on a decade of grassroots organizing across Oregon, we brought forward a wide variety of pressing issues for legislative review and supported many dozens of rural residents in their efforts to testify at the State Capitol to demand protections from aerial pesticide spray. Our early wins to reform the Oregon Forest Practices Act set the stage for the passage of SB 1602.

The small but mighty Kern County town of Shafter (pop. 16,988) is savoring a hard-fought victory after the California Air Resources Board (CARB) agreed that pesticides would be included in plans to reduce air emissions in the highly impacted community. With an astonishing 3 million pounds of pesticides used each year within a seven mile radius of Shafter, it came as no surprise that residents put pesticides at the top of the list of pollutants of greatest concern to them – especially those that are classified by the state as Toxic Air Contaminants.

Mackenzie Feldman is a 23 year old from Honolulu, Hawaii, and is the founder of Herbicide-Free Campus, a campaign to ban herbicides at schools. Her campaign originated at UC Berkeley, was expanded to all UC campuses and then broadened to schools across the US. Her work is inspired by the fact that Hawaii— where she is from— is ground zero for industrial agriculture, and they do the most GMO seed testing in Hawaii out of anywhere in the country.