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Nov
Grassroots Power: Discover How Organic Local Action Can Transform Public Spaces on Nov 29—National Forum Series
(Beyond Pesticides, November 22, 2023) As a leading organization in advocating for organic and sustainable land management, Beyond Pesticides is honored to host the third and final webinar of the National Forum Series: Transformative Community-Based Change from the Ground Up on November 29, 2023, at 2 PM EST!
This event, focusing on managing parks and playing fields with organic practices and policies, invites concerned citizens, elected officials, and land managers to learn about effective strategies for implementing organic land management in their communities.
The panel discussion will highlight activists like Avery Kamila, who was instrumental in establishing Portland, Maine’s pioneering ordinance—the strongest local ordinance in the United States—that restricts the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers on both public and private properties, with few exceptions. This landmark ordinance establishes organic land care practices as the primary means to maintain properties within Portland’s city limits, including lawns, gardens, sports fields, parks, and playgrounds.
Kamila’s efforts, alongside other concerned citizens, led to significant policy changes in Portland, demonstrating the powerful impact of grassroots advocacy. While Maine is one of a handful of states that allow citizens and local governments the right to control their exposure to pesticides through local government pesticide regulation (known as ‘home rule’), many other advocates and local governments have enacted similar changes restricting pesticide use on public lands (like city parks and properties).
Beyond Pesticides invites you to join Avery Kamila and our renowned panelists below, who will walk through the practical steps for maintaining parks and playing fields without toxic chemicals. Their work has become a model for communities nationally and worldwide.
If you are concerned about pesticide use in your local community, don’t miss this important conversation! The webinar is designed to share practical, science-backed approaches to organic land management and is for all who want beautiful landscapes, parks, and playing fields without the reliance on petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers.
Attendees will gain insights into:
- Model approaches to grassroots advocacy and public policy.
- Strategies for managing parks, playing fields, and landscapes without toxic chemicals.
- Practical steps that have been successful in various communities.
- The benefits of organic practices, including enhancing biodiversity and reducing carbon footprint.
If you are concerned about your health and that of your community, an elected official interested in effecting movement away from toxic chemical reliance, and/or a land manager/landscaper who works in parks and on playing fields and other landscapes—this conversation is for you!Â
>>Click here to register and please spread the news this Thanksgiving!
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
