Find allies and champions for PFZ and Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
This could include friends, neighbors, concerned parents/groups, gardeners, neighborhood associations, environmental commissions, town managers, and parks department representatives. Numerous schools, towns county and state agencies have already passed IPM policy resolutions. For a list of these towns, visit:
www.cleanwateraction.org/njef.
Brick, Chatham, and Ocean City have already passed PFZ resolutions and designated pesticide free parks. To find out who your Mayor is, visit www.state.nj.us/dca/mayors/. To find out who your environmental commission is, visit www.anjec.org.
Gain support from elected officials, mayor, council and your environmental commission.
Call them and/or attend one of the regular public meetings and give a five minute "pitch" during the "public comment" period(usually at the end of the meeting, but sometimes at the beginning). Suggest they support the concept of Pesticide Free Zones and Integrated Pest Management (for more info on PFZ and IPM, click here). Bring a copy of the PFZ town resolution to the meeting. A sample resolution is available by clicking here: PFZ Town Resolution.
Schedule a vote on PFZ!
Ask your town when the resolution can be scheduled for a vote. Clarify what other steps need to be taken to get that to happen.
Promote the PFZ Ladybug Signs.
Let your town officials know about the friendly pesticide free zone ladybug signs. Brick, Chatham, and Ocean City have passed PFZ resolutions and display the PFZ signs in their parks. To see PFZ in action in Chatham Township visit:
www.chathamtownship.org/pestiside_free_zone.html. To obtain a PFZ sign at a discount of $6 each, to put up in your yard or take to a meeting, email janogaki@cleanwater.org. NJEF will provide one free sign to any town who designates a park as a Pesticide Free Zone!
Conduct a letter-writing campaign!
Handwritten letters and/or emails to the mayor, council, and environmental commission or a phone call blitz can get things moving! Click here www.cleanwateraction.org/njef to see a sample action alert and letter flyer. To find out who your Mayor is, visit www.state.nj.us/dca/mayors/. To find out who your environmental commission is, visit www.anjec.org.
Thank the town for passing the resolution and contact the media.
Write a letter to the editor (LTE) of the local paper praising the town government for its forward action to protect the public from pesticide exposure. To find contact information for your local newspaper, visit www.njpa.org. The website contains contact information for daily newspapers and weeklies. It's important to submit your LTE to a statewide paper, as well as your local newspaper (weekly). A nice touch might be including a photo at a park bearing the Pesticide Free Zone sign preferably with some children in the photo can be emailed to the local paper with a caption--Town Goes "Pesticide Free" To Protect Kids Where They Play.
Click here to read NJEF pesticide free and integrated pest management news articles.
PESTICIDE FREE ZONE (PFZ) BROCHURES!
PESTICIDE FREE ZONE UPDATES!
NJEF has been successful in getting several towns and one county to go PFZ in public parks.
