Minimizing Pesticides For Your Commercial Landscape

You have a wonderful commercial landscape and you want to keep it that way. Bugs can damage plants, but before you spray those bugs away, read on for some important information on Pesticides.

Pesticides can cause significant harm to public health and the environment. Most pesticides contain potentially toxic chemicals that can cause negative health effects such as cancer and neurological and reproductive disorders. In addition, pesticides can migrate into lakes and streams when it rains. Consider consulting with your company’s pest control company to determine if there are less-toxic alternatives to products you are currently using.

Reducing your business’s use of pesticides can also save money. Consider adopting the principles of integrated pest management outlined below to prevent infestations before they start.

Also consider asking your current pest control suppliers to become certified and provide you with a certified service. Several credible certification programs are available, making it easier than ever before to contract for effective, environmentally friendly pest control services. NRDC recommends the following certification programs: EcoWise Certified, GreenPro Certified and Green Shield Certified.

Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach to pest management that helps reduce the use of pesticides.  IPM means preventing infestations before they start, and using pesticides only when necessary. There are various IPM approaches that your company can adopt to decrease its reliance on chemical-based pest control. 

Consider the steps below:
Use native plants, trees, and grasses.
Fill cracks in walls and pavement.
Keep vegetation at least 1 foot away from structures.
Clean food-contaminated dishes right away.
Clean garbage cans often.
Make sure compost bins are properly maintained.

Schools across the country have adopted IPM techniques to reduce children’s exposure to harmful pesticides. In Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, the school district reduced the number of pesticide applications from 5,000 in 1985 to zero in 1989 using IPM techniques. This reduction yielded an annual savings of $1,800 per school. Schools in Montgomery County, Indiana, reduced their annual pest management costs by more than $13,000 through IPM. 

BEE Protective 
Since 2006, honey bees and other pollinators in the U.S. and throughout the world have experienced ongoing and rapid population declines. The continuation of this crisis threatens the stability of ecosystems, the economy, and our food supply, as one in three bites of food are dependent on pollinator services. In 2013, Beyond Pesticides joined with beekeepers and environmental allies in a lawsuit challenging EPA's approval of two neonicotinoid pesticides. These highly toxic, persistent and systemic chemicals have been widely implicated as leading factors in pollinator declines. In order to move action forward on the pollinator crisis, Beyond Pesticides and The Center for Food Safety launched the BEE Protective campaign, a national public education effort to Protect honey bees and wild pollinators from pesticides
 and contaminated landscapes. 

BEE Protective includes a variety of educational materials to help encourage municipalities, campuses, and individual homeowners to adopt policies and practices that protect bees and other pollinators from harmful pesticide applications and create pesticide-free refuges for these beneficial organisms. In addition to scientific and regulatory information, BEE Protective also includes a model community pollinator resolution and a pollinator protection pledge. Pollinators are a vital part of our environment and a barometer for healthy ecosystems. It is an essential priority for everyone to protect these critical species.

More importantly you can let Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance do all the work for you and take the burden off your shoulders all together.  Give us a call at 623-848-8277 and let’s talk about it.

Presented by:
Greens Keeper Landscape Maintenance, LLC
623-848-8277
http://www.commerciallandscapecare.com
greenskeeperllc@cox.net