We have compiled the letters
and the article that have been published in the News Times in the
past few weeks. We have found these to be profoundly inspirational
and personally healing, and we expect you will too.
Newport
News Times
Friday, April 19, 2002
Community group teaches others about chemical-free gardening
Jenny Stokes, far right,
and her infant daughter, Leela, stopped by the Natural Home and Garden
booth at Oceana Natural Foods Cooperative in Newport last week to
learn about chemical-free gardening.
Pictured from left are Natural Home and Garden volunteers Lisa Gray,
Kelly Everfree and Maxine Centala. (Photo by Kelly Moyer-Wade)
By Kelly Moyer-Wade Of
the News-Times
"I want to stop using
chemicals on my garden and I know it's terrible, but I don't know
what else to do!" Yachats resident Lisa Gray and her comrades
at the Natural Home and Garden organization hear this phrase frequently.
"Many people want to use fewer chemicals around their home and
in their garden," explained Gray. "But they don't know what
else to use."
That's where the Natural
Home and Garden group comes in. Formed by like-minded residents of
Lincoln County, the grassroots group provides free information for
people looking to use more natural methods to control weeds, get rid
of insects, and grow attractive gardens. "Little by little, we
started to get more volunteers, more people who knew about gardening,
and it emerged into an organization," said Gray. "We hand
out information, maintain a website, and are trying to raise money
for an ad to put in the newspapers."
Like other Natural Home
and Garden volunteers, Gray is highly sensitive to chemicals. She
and the other volunteers hope to spread the word that when people
use these potent chemicals on the lawns and gardens, they may be putting
their neighbors, children, pets, wildlife and community water supply
at risk.
Last week, the group gathered
at a table inside Newport's Oceana Natural Foods Cooperative and handed
out information to interested patrons. Although they aren't "in-your-face"
with their views on insecticides and herbicides, all of the Natural
Home and Garden volunteers agree that they would like to see people
stop using harsh chemicals on their lawns, gardens and around their
homes.
The group offers alternatives to spraying with herbicides and insecticides
such as:
- Using flame weeders,
which are available at local equipment rental shops, to destroy
weeds that grow along driveways and sidewalks.
- Using Safer's Super
Fast, made from coconut, to kill weeds.
- Planting native plants,
which require less water, provide shelter for birds and butterflies
and require very little maintenance.
- Considering the acceptance
of a few weeds instead of striving for the chemical companies' view
of a "perfect lawn." Natural Home and Garden volunteers
point out that dandelions are fun for children, attract useful ladybugs,
and their greens are good to eat when boiled.
- Utilizing goats to clear
blackberry plants.
The grassroots organization
warns people that, although television and magazine ads have made
herbicides and insecticides seem safe, an established link exists
between many of these gardening chemicals and asthma, cancer in children,
leukemia, Parkinson's disease, breast cancer and neurological damage.
Kelly Everfree, a Natural
Home and Garden volunteer, said she finds it inspiring that gardeners
can make such a big environmental impact by making a few inexpensive,
simple changes to their backyard gardens and lawns.
The group offers suggestions
about natural gardening methods on its website at www.naturalhomeandgarden.org
and welcomes new suggestions or volunteers. "We welcome other
people's gardening solutions because there's always a hundred ways
of doing things," said Gray. Interested people can email the
group at volunteers@naturalhomeandgarden.org. The Natural Home and
Garden group is hoping to remain in the public and will have a booth
at the Oregon Coast Aquarium's Earth Day celebration, which is scheduled
to take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday.
Newport
News Times
Letters to the editor
PUBLISHED: Wednesday April 03, 2002
Yard chemical use
Some cities and towns in the United States and Canada have passed
laws banning private use of pesticides because exposure to those chemicals
has been proven to cause damage to the immune systems and nervous
systems of persons who breathe their residual vapors.
The use of paper masks has virtually no protective effect for those
who apply the chemicals, and close neighbors, even if they themselves
wish to avoid exposure to toxic chemicals, are as much at risk of
exposure as those who do the spraying in their own yards.
Yachats, Waldport and Newport do not have any such laws to help control
their residents' exposure to these risky chemicals, but perhaps homeowners
here on the central coast would be willing to voluntarily eliminate
or reduce their use of these toxic chemicals. Products like Roundup,
Weed'n'Feed, etc., which manufacturers and marketers have tried to
assure us are "safe," can be just as damaging to the immune
systems and nervous systems of neighbors as they are to those who
apply them.
Nonconsensual exposure to residues of these chemicals, which drift
for miles and persist for days, can lead to a variety of health problems,
including neurological disorders, sleep disorders, even risk of death
for those who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases. Young
children are at special risk of suffering adverse health effects from
even accidental exposure to these chemicals.
If you have used pesticides in the past, perhaps you would be willing
to curtail your use of these chemicals in your yard and garden this
spring. Your neighbors, especially those with young children and those
who are more adversely affected by these yard chemicals, will greatly
appreciate your thoughtfulness.
Tom Kerns
Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy
Author of "Environmentally Induced Illnesses: Ethics, Risk Assessment
and Human Rights (McFarland, 2001)
Yachats
PUBLISHED: Wednesday
April 10, 2002
To the Editor:
Our organization "Natural Home and Garden" is a group of
volunteers in Lincoln County helping to provide information and ideas
to our community about how to garden without the use of chemicals.
We were very excited to see the letter to the News Times on April
3rd from Dr. Tom Kerns. Like Dr. Kerns we are concerned about the
health risks of common weed killers and bug killers. We have discovered
that many people, maybe even most people, would like to use fewer
chemicals in their yard and garden. We can't count the number of times
we have heard, "I know these things are terrible, but what else
can I do?"
So we have decided to provide
free information to the public about healthy alternatives to insecticides
(bug killers) and herbicides (weed killers). We are also providing
information about gardening with native Northwest plants, gardening
to attract birds and butterflies, and which plants to avoid. We are
not selling anything. Our only aim is to help create a healthier and
more beautiful world for all of us.
We would like to invite
all Lincoln County residents to visit our web site at www.NaturalHomeandGarden.org
to discover how to deal with blackberries, driveway weeds, lawn weeds
and other garden problems naturally. Our web site also includes a
list of resources here on the coast for where you can get your natural
gardening needs met.
There are new weed killers,
like corn gluten, which don't harm the environment; and tools such
as flame weeders which destroy weeds with heat and leave no toxic
residues. Mulches and landscape fabrics, when used correctly, can
reduce or even eliminate weeds.
A big "thank you"
to the News Times for printing a letter on such an important subject.
Kelly Everfree and
Lisa Gray
Natural Home and Garden volunteers
PUBLISHED: Wednesday,
April 10, 2002
To the Editor:
We are writing in the interest
of the members of the Central Oregon Coast chapter of The Human Ecology
Action League. HEAL is a nonprofit organization providing information
to those concerned about the health effects of chemicals.
We would like to thank Dr. Tom Kerns for his April 3rd letter to the
News Times encouraging residents of Lincoln County to curtail their
home pesticide use (including Roundup and Weed 'n' Feed products).
In Lincoln County, residents are beginning to think more carefully
before using herbicides in their yards. Still, every year the Oregon
Department of Transportation saturates the margin of state highways
with herbicide. Every year many Lincoln County residents are made
sick by this practice (not to mention salmon, which studies have proven
are damaged by herbicide use).
Several counties in California and in Washington have outlawed the
use of roadside spraying. Just this past week Whidbey Island, Washington
added itself to the growing list of counties that have looked at health
risks, considered viable options, and discontinued roadside herbicide
spraying completely. They were able to accomplish their goals for
the same dollar amount they were spending on herbicides each year.
ODOT has been testing alternatives to herbicide use, and may be encouraged
to use these less damaging methods.
Anyone living along state highways who is concerned about this practice
can obtain a free "No Spray Permit" which ODOT offers as
an alternative to spraying along your property line (available in
Newport at Oceana Natural Foods Co-op; in Waldport at Health 101,
or Chuck's Video; or by calling ODOT). ODOT has been very responsible
about not spraying on properties that have a "No Spray Permit."
Thank you making a difference in the lives and health of both humans
and animals by obtaining a "No Spray Permit," and by reducing
or eliminating your yard chemical use.
Kit Sugrue
President of the Oregon Coast Chapter of HEAL
PUBLISHED: Friday, April 19, 2002
Say no to home pesticides, herbicides
To the Editor:
My family and I are from a rural town west of Eugene. We were displaced
from our home of 29 years because of the effects of pesticide chemical
drift. I felt a warm, hopeful attitude of caring about neighbors in
the letters to the News-Times on April 3 from Dr. Tom Kerns and on
April 10 from Natural Home and Garden volunteers and one from the
president of Central Oregon Coast HEAL. They expressed concern for
health effects from the use of pesticides and herbicides, asked for
volunteer curtailment of use of these chemicals in yards and gardens,
and offered information on alternatives.
My family and I were forced to sell almost all of our possessions
and our home after it became contaminated with residue from chemicals
sprayed at a neighboring vineyard.
Healthy all of my life,
I now suffer from a form of chemical sensitivity called chronic chemical-induced
porphyrinopathy. I become extremely ill when exposed to even minute
amounts of chemicals, and my condition has also made me light sensitive.
Over-exposure to pesticides
has affected my health and freedom. I live with the threat of roadside
spraying, coming upon a sprayed yard or business front. Let us create
a community with an attitude of caring. Caring and respecting our
own health, our neighbors, animals and environment.
Say no to pesticides and
herbicides. Use an alternative and we all will benefit and be grateful.
Diana Lynn Purdy
Seal Rock
PUBLISHED: Friday,
May 10, 2002
Roadside herbicides
I was deeply touched by
the letter from Diana Purdy on April 19 in which she told how her
family lost their home of 29 years because of pesticides that drifted
from neighboring property. she asked people to voluntarily curb their
use of insecticide and herbicide. Maybe it's also time to reconsider
the ongoing application of herbicides along our state and county roads.
The Oregon Department Of Transportation sprays herbicides on both
shoulders of Highways 101, 20, 34 and other state highways in Lincoln
County outside city limits every spring, except the few places where
property owners have applied for a No Spray permit.
ODOT also spot sprays and
treats cut stumps of blackberries and Scotch broom along these roads.
The shoulder spray, to which we all may be exposed by driving the
highways this time of year, contains Krovar, Oust and Roundup, ODOT
says. Krovar contains bromacil, a "possible human carcinogen"
according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Children waiting for the
school bus, bicyclists who pedal the length of the county, people
walking the highway daily for exercise, and those living along a state
highway normally receive no warning. Herbicides can cause very serious
health consequences for people with asthma or other respiratory problems.
Warning signs should be
posted prominently along the highways, and announcements made on local
radio and in newspapers, so concerned individuals can take measures
to avoid the chemicals. Unlike Highways 101, 20, 34 and other state
highways where notices are not posted, the county does post notices
prior to spot spraying along county roads.
A News-Times report on
April 17 said Lincoln County is third highest in the state in cancer
deaths. Shouldn't we do everything possible to minimize exposures
to environmental toxicants? Some counties in western Washington have
stopped spraying their county roads entirely. If they can maintain
their roads without exposing citizens to herbicides, maybe it's time
we looked at their methods and emulated them.
Maxine Centala
Seal Rock
