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Pesticide Free Zones

Fair Lawn, October 2007

A ladybug signals town parks are safe, Fair Lawn takes steps to 'go green' at parks
By Stephanie Akin, Staff Writer

Originally printed in the Hub
pfz fairlawn

FAIR LAWN -- The borough declared its parks pesticide-free Friday. As three women watched their toddlers play on a slide behind them, officials accepted the borough's first "pesticide-free zone" sign at Berdan Grove Playground. Park users can take the ladybug emblem as a guarantee that the area is safe for them and their children.

With the measure, Fair Lawn joined 11 other New Jersey boroughs in banning pesticides and herbicides from play areas. They will post the ladybug sign at every park in the borough.





Deputy Mayor Tedeschi, NJEF's Jane Nogaki, Garden Committee Chair Jane Spindel, Fairlawn Mayor Steven Weinstein display the ladybug Pesticide Free Zone sign at Berdan Grove Park in Fairlawn.
Volunteers from the New Jersey Environmental Federation canvassed borough neighborhoods last spring asking residents to support the program, spokeswoman Jane Nogaki said. Mayor Steve Weinstein said those residents sent him hundreds of letters. The borough stopped using pesticides in its parks in 1986, but the public attention showed him that many residents were unaware of the policy, he said.

Organizers of the pesticide-free park campaign are trying to rally support for a county- or statewide policy. The Assembly is considering a bill to limit the use of pesticides in state parks and forests. Nogaki said she hoped campaigning in residential areas would also make people reconsider the chemicals they use every day.

"When you knock on doors and say, 'Would you like your parks to be pesticide-free?' who's going to say no?" Nogaki said. "The message you would like them to take home is, 'What about what I'm doing on my own property.' "

Read the full article...

Read more about non-toxic lawn care and pesticide free zones.

To order a PFZ sign, email janogaki@cleanwater.org or visit www.pesticidefreelawns.org

For more information, contact Jane Nogaki at 856-767-1110 or janogaki@cleanwater.org. Natural methods of pest control are also available from Master Gardeners of Bergen County, 201-336-6783.