Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Be a NIMBY


Dear friends, neighbors and community: As the snow begins to melt and thoughts turn to gardening and lawn maintenance for the spring and summer, I ask you to consider carefully your choices of products and companies. This past year I have lost two healthy, vibrant and athletic friends to cancer. Other friends, including young children, have been diagnosed with cancer, terminal respiratory illnesses and seizures. The number of pets and animals living near me that have died of cancer is increasing.

Each year I find more people spraying pesticides and herbicides on their properties, up and down the length of the Wood River Valley. Spraying presents a very serious health problem not only for the people having their properties sprayed but also for the neighbors, the wildlife, the watershed and all the people living within the community.

Awareness is key. Did you know that spraying in wind over 10 miles per hour is against the law? That many of the landscape workers spraying are not properly licensed or insured and are not wearing proper protective clothing and eyewear? That landscapers are not required in our state and county to notify neighbors of their spraying?

Consider what happens when your young children and pets play on lawns sprayed with supposed "fertilizers" and "safe products" like Roundup and 2,4-D. They are absorbing through their skin and lungs extremely harmful and powerful chemicals that are medically proven to be detrimental to their health.

There are several Web sites that offer very solid scientific evidence for not using any pesticides or herbicides. Many communities throughout the United States and Canada have banned all use of pesticides and

herbicides in schools, parks and private lawns. Numerous landscape companies in the Wood River Valley are using organic methods for lawn care and weed control with great success.

Be sure to know what is being used on your yard and always read the labels to understand the toxicity levels and danger of use. Please consider the serious health ramifications of a chemically green lawn. Is it really worth your health and your life? The excessive use of pesticides and herbicides in the Wood River Valley over the past two decades has triggered grave health consequences within our community.

This is a good time to be a NIMBY. Not In My Back Yard, not in my community, not in Blaine County. Please join me in stopping the use of pesticide and herbicide spraying. Thank you for your consideration.

Christine N. Cole

Sun Valley




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