The Garden Green Program is an effort to reduce pollution of Vashon/Maury island’s streams, groundwater and Puget Sound from toxic and hazardous ingredients in some garden products. To achieve this goal, the project focuses on shifting the purchasing habits
of island residents toward garden and landscape products with fewer or no toxic or hazardous ingredients.
“A draft federal evaluation has found that three more common pesticides used on home lawns and agricultural crops
jeopardize the survival of West Coast salmon.” One of the three is the pre-emergent trifluralin. Trifluralin is an active ingredient in herbicides currently sold on Vashon Island.
In the report, Control of Toxic Chemicals in Puget Sound:
Assessment of Selected Toxic Chemicals in the Puget Sound Basin, 2007- the Washington State Department of Ecology, “identified
urban lawn and garden use of copper as potentially one of the largest sources of copper in the Puget Sound basin.” “Copper is highly toxic to aquatic organisms and may cause irreversible harm at concentrations
just over that required for growth and reproduction” (Hall et al. 1988, Eisler 2000, Baldwin et al. 2003)
Copper sulfate and copper octoanate are currently sold on Vashon to spray on fruit trees and other plants to prevent fungal disease.
In 2005, the Vashon-Maury Watershed Plan was developed for Vashon Island.
A dedicated group of people met every week for a year to develop this plan. It is a comprehensive view of water on our island. In it there is a vision for the use of pesticides and fertilizers. It is a beautiful vision of safety and care:
Vashon's Vision From the Watershed Plan:
*** “Commercial businesses apply pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers on the Island safely, using BMPs, [Best Management Practices] and offer their customers the option of using organic and nontoxic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and IPM [Integrated
Pest Management] methods.”
*** “Retailers advocate for and provide information on preferred and short lived pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.”
*** “Stream buffers are observed on Vashon to prevent use of herbicides, pesticides, or chemicals application.”
*** “No pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers are used on the Island that endanger human health or ecosystems.”
*** “Vashon citizens are well educated on the possible and real dangers from the use of these chemicals and know safe but effective organic and nontoxic alternatives.”
*** “Islanders substitute safe alternatives, widely use IPM Management methods, use only slow release fertilizers, follow instructions and do not exceed recommended rates, and use fertilizers whose components are best suited to the type of plant that they
are growing. “
*** “Accurate information is made available on effective controls for usual pests on Vashon including assessment of environmental risks for each.”
Along with the vision, the plan outlined recommendations for the community. One of the top 7 recommendations in the plan was about pesticides:
“[A]n education program on pesticide and fertilizer use that includes information for retailers….workshops …articles for The Loop, The Beachcomber….handouts….. encouragement for schools, Vashon Park District, [etc.] to reduce use of toxic materials
and find alternatives…”
We have created the Garden Green project to implement the vision – a vision worth pursuing. A vision critical to our future. The Garden Green effort addresses the recommendations in the Watershed Plan. It works to increase voluntary prevention of water
quality contamination through education, training and community outreach.
If you wish to read the whole Vashon-Maury Watershed Plan plan, click
HERE.
Intended Goals and Outcomes
Our goals for 2015 are to collaborate with all 5 garden product retailers on the island to share information on garden chemicals and alternatives to their customers.
Purpose: to move people away from the most toxic products, and toward less toxic products and garden methods which use no chemicals.
Program Strategies:
*** Compose and print 6 different point of sale “Garden Green” cards customized for island retailers. The categories covered by the cards will include Weed Contol, Insect Pest Control, Moss Control, Disease Control, Non-Insect Pest Control
(slugs, deer, etc), and Fertilizers. The current products sold on the island in 2015 by participating retailers will be documented, including active ingredients and brand name. Every product sold on the island will be documented. The brand name, product
name, EPA registration number (if it has one), the names and percentages of each active ingredient, and the % of the inert ingredients will be documented.
The cards will be organized by brand name of the product, within each toxicity rating. The toxicity rating will be based on the Pharos Project database, which incorporates research from around the world, and gives hazard ratings to individual chemicals, from
low concern to urgent concern.
https://www.pharosproject.net/ The Bullitt Foundation is a funder of Pharos, and we are taking the database into new uses through these Garden Green cards.
*** Develop an educational presentation about the effort, and train the staff people at participating retailers. Staff are key to influencing people who buy the most toxic products.
*** Develop and implement community based social marketing techniques for the approximately 10 different online Vashon/Maury groups. The goal is to inform, and help customers see themselves as environmentally concerned; encouraging and supporting people
who move away from the most toxic products.
*** Develop and provide training information on Garden Green for the public, through presentations at the Vashon Library, and appearances on local Vashon radio
*** Visit and network with existing community groups and organizations, to obtain their buy in and support of the effort among members.
*** Measure behavior change through comparing annual sales of products in the various hazard categories by individual retailer, but not identifying them by name.
Outcomes:
*** Reduced purchases of the highly toxic products
*** Increased purchases of the non and less toxic products
*** Increased adoption of non-chemical gardening methods. Examples include the use of floating row covers instead of insecticides, and drip irrigation and mulch to discourage weeds instead of using herbicides.
*** Increased awareness among the public of the hazards of toxic garden chemicals to people, pets, wildlife, salmon, and beneficial insects such as bees – on Vashon/Maury Island and in Puget Sound
*** Increased awareness of the importance of safe handling of toxic lawn and garden products, by following the directions on the labels.
*** Increased awareness of how to get the best performance out of the nontoxic alternatives to highly toxic chemicals.
What Will it Cost?
|
Amount |
Purpose |
|
|
1. |
$1050 |
Design the structure of the project: exactly how to do it, and supervise the project |
|
2. |
$1050 |
Create a database of garden products. Document the Manufacturer, Product Name, EPA Registration number, and all active ingredients for each garden product used at each participating retailer. There are 120 different insecticide products alone which are sold
|
|
3. |
$1150 |
Research each active ingredient using the Pharos Project database, and gather supplemental information as needed to accurately identify the exact chemical name and structure. Add the hazard rating for each ingredient to the master database of Vashon pesticides.
|
|
5. |
$1500 |
Design the layout of 6 cards for printing, which products to include on the cards, have printed locally, 250 of each card, and hand deliver to retailers |
|
8. |
$200 |
Develop training program for retailers and the public |
|
9. |
$175 |
Train retail staff at up to 5 participating retailers |
|
10. |
$425 |
Educate the public through talks at the Vashon library, and radio appearances |
|
11. |
$600 |
Increase awareness of the effort through social media, networking with local community groups and collaborate with other groups |
|
12. |
$200 |
Write newspaper articles for The Vashon Loop and Vashon Beachcomber |
|
13. |
$250 |
At end of year, collect and analyze sales data from each of the participating retailers |
|
14. |
$400 |
Write and submit the final report |
|
$7000 |
Total |
There will be an additional in kind donations of time on the project, estimating 20% of the total hours, for $1134, making the total project cost $8126.
There is another aspect to the program which is important to note. The work we are doing on Vashon Island can be easily adapted to everywhere in the world where pesticides and chemical fertilizers are sold to consumers. Water quality is a global issue, and
becoming more critical every day. What we do here on Vashon-Maury Island can become a model for communities around the world. Because we are reaching out to the world through our crowdfunding, there is a greater likelihood that people in other countries will
pick up and implement this concept.
Please join us by contributing financially to our effort to reduce pesticide use on Vashon. Your involvement helps create the vision we all want to see for our island, and for the world.
Please see the sidebar of donation levels and rewards we have selected for our contributors. Even a small donation is helpful, and you will receive a year end report on the effort, and its results.
It will also be very helpful if you would share the Garden Green campaign with others who feel strongly about our environment, and the overuse of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, on Vashon or elsewhere. You could use the share button on the Start Some
Good site for social media, blog about our effort and include a link, or reach out to friends in a personal email. If you live on Vashon you could mention it on Vashon Facebook groups, Yahoo lists, and any organization you belong to where the members would
like to know.
Thank you so very much for your support!!
LINKS
Here are links to the key people involved in the project:
Our Venture: http://startsomegood.com/Venture/garden_green
Diane's Website:
http://www.dianeemerson.webs.com/
Diane's Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/diane.emerson.94
Diane's Blog from 7 years as a Nomadic Volunteer:
http://www.diane-emerson.blogspot.com/
Michael's Website:
http://www.watershedllc.net/
Michael's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/michael.laurie.33?fref=ts
The Pharos Project Database:
https://www.pharosproject.net
Pesticide Action Network:
http://www.panna.org/about
A Few of Our Supporters:
Sustainable Vashon:
http://www.sustainablevashon.org/
