By TIM
FAULKNER/ecoRI.org News staff
Paul
Tukey, the Maine native and landscaping pro
acclaimed for his conversion to organic lawn products and his book "The Organic Lawn Care Manual,"
recently moved to North Kingstown .
In the
early 1990s, Tukey built a successful lawn and garden business in Maine as an avowed user
of synthetic fertilizers. A medical scare and subsequent doctor's order,
however, quickly convinced him to kick the chemical habit.
He has since
converted his landscaping business to fully organic, and launched a new career
writing, speaking and promoting organic lawn and garden maintenance.
Given
the entrenched popularity of corporate chemical giants such as Scotts and
TruGreen, Tukey recognized that millions of Americans await conversion to
natural landscaping methods.
"As
soon as we put chemicals down, the soil instantly loses its ability to grow
life," he said at a May 24 talk at the Audobon Society of Rhode Island .
Tukey
delivered plenty of zingers about the ills of America 's love affair with lawn
chemicals. Everyday sprays and synthetic granules not only destroy the
life-giving soil but also threaten people and pets, the air we breathe and the
water we drink. "It's no different than secondhand smoke," he said.
"It's secondhand pesticides."
Since
the Masters golf tournament first broadcast in color in 1966, Tukey said,
mass-marketing has held the golf course fairway as the ideal lawn for a home.
"We're somehow un-American if we let a dandelion grow on our lawn,"
he said.
There's
no shortage of research, however, to back up the risks associated with
artificial lawn care. Two of the most common pesticides, glyphosate used in
Roundup and 2,4-D in Weed B Gon Max, have been linked to a slew of health
issues such as autism, ALS, developmental disorders and cancer.
Bans on
one or both of these products for lawn care have been instituted in Quebec , Ontario , and in Sweden , Denmark
and Norway .
Partial bans have been enacted in New Jersey , Connecticut and New
York .
"You
get 50 percent of your nutrients back if you just leave your grass (clippings)
there. It's fertilizer for your lawn," he said.
The cost
to convert to a naturally grown lawn is typically more expensive at first,
Tukey said, but after two or three years, maintenance is half the costs of
synthetic care. And natural lawn care is not only cheaper but also easier and
safer.
His
latest book reminds people that lawns are for having fun, too. "Tag, Toss
and Run" offers ideas for traditional games such as badminton and
wheelbarrow races that are ideal for healthy lawns and families.
"Let's
grow lawns not just to look at, but to play on," he said.
Tukey
said apathy is to blame for the delayed implementation of chemical bans in the United States
and the slow return to traditional natural lawn and garden care care methods.
The May 24 audience of some 20 people was the smallest he had spoken to during
a recent speaking tour and perhaps indicated why there is little public outcry
for legislation against synthetic lawn care in Rhode Island . "People don't want to
change," he said.
Promoting
a ban on pesticides and chemical treatments in any community, he said, requires
time, patience and persistence. A good first step is teaming up with other
natural turf advocates and healthy-living advocates to work with like-minded
local officials and representative to start crafting legislation.
A return
to the pre-chemical days of lawn care, he said, is also impeded by
"economic greed and ignorance." But natural methods succeeded for
hundreds of years. "If people tell you it doesn't work then they
don't know how to do it.," he said.