The city of Greenbelt, Maryland : pesticide use under review
(Book - Regular Print)

Thesis,MSES,Green Mountain College,2011

Includes bibliographical references.

Over forty years ago Rachel Carson wrote of the dangers of pesticides and the abuses of the commercial pesticide industry (Carson, 1962). In 2008, the United States Department of Agriculture reported U.S. farm and professional pesticide use at about 1.2 billion pounds each year (EPA, 2011). These pesticides are absorbed into soil, water, and living tissue, unable to distinguish between intended target and other non-target organisms. The full range of harm from pesticides is not entirely known but the danger posed by pesticides to nature and humans has significant scientific documentation (Balaram, 2003). The impetus to study the use of pesticides in the city of Greenbelt grew out of concerns for public and environmental health specific to the city of Greenbelt, the wider Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and the greater global community. These issues sparked the need to develop and implement polices [sic] utilizing methods that are fiscally responsible and environmentally sustainable (ISA, 2009). In my capacity as the Assistant Director of Public Works in tandem with my work in Green Mountain College's Masters of Environmental Science program, I have created, researched, and implemented all stages of this program's development and execution. I have shaped a Sustainable Land Care Policy that will require the City reduce and eliminate the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, and I have put into action a community outreach program to promote more sustainable landscape practices.