Haywood, one of Sara Roosevelt Park’s Gardeners (retired)
A step in the right direction… Protects children and all park users equitably, and the park workers and volunteers who help with upkeep.
From NYT article
“Paula Rogovin has a rule for teaching small children: Whenever you expose them to upsetting problems, remind them that they can look for solutions. So they decided on a goal: to ban pesticides in the city’s parks, playgrounds and open spaces.”
From the NYT “City agencies’ use of glyphosate, the main ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, has dropped since 2014, when Mr. Kallos first introduced a version of the bill. Since then, it has been ruled a carcinogen and Roundup’s manufacturer, Monsanto, later acquired by Bayer, has been ordered to pay $158 million, in separate lawsuits, to two California cancer patients, a school groundskeeper and a gardener, who were sickened by it.
Agencies can seek waivers to use toxins in specific cases, but input is required from the local community board, council member and borough president. Exceptions will include areas on median strips, where using organic products, which require more frequent applications, would more often expose workers to danger from vehicles.”
[What about exposure to toxic chemicals to workers?]
More information from “Beyond Pesticides” here.
