Be Truly Green -- Refuse to use ChemLawn

Executive Summary

Lawns are where families play, picnic and relax.

Over the past fifty years, the plush green lawn has become the pride of suburban America. With the aid of sophisticated marketing strategies backed by millions of dollars in advertising, the lawn care and pesticide industry has successfully created the desire for “the perfect lawn”. More importantly, the industry has succeeded in convincing many Americans that to have a green and healthy lawn, one needs to use an arsenal of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

The desire for the perfect lawn is leading millions of households across the nation to expose their children, pets, and water supplies to toxic pesticides that threaten public health and the environment.

While the amount of pesticides used in agriculture, industry, commercial and government sectors has decreased over the past twenty years, the use of residential lawn and garden pesticides is on the rise. It is the one sector of the pesticides market that is growing.

TruGreen ChemLawn is the largest lawn care provider in the United States serving more than 3.4 million households and annually generating more than $1.3 billion in income. TruGreen ChemLawn contributes to the yearly application of more than 70 million pounds of pesticides on some of America’s 30 million acres of lawns. The amount of pesticides applied is significant; the rate of pesticides used on lawns is on average ten times more per acre than what is used on agricultural land.

TruGreen ChemLawn’s standard customer receipt lists 32 pesticides available for use through its residential lawn care program. An analysis of these pesticides by Toxics Action Center based on information from the pesticide manufacturer’s Material Safety Data Sheets reveals:

Despite these dangers, TruGreen ChemLawn continues to grow and recruit new residential and commercial customers.

Even though these pesticides are proven to be hazardous to public health and the environment, USEPA’s pesticide regulatory system has put its stamp of approval on the use of these pesticides. Although a growing pool of research links exposure to the pesticides used by TruGreen ChemLawn to nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headaches and chronic illnesses like lymphoma, leukemia, bladder cancer, and learning disabilities, the USEPA continues to register these pesticides for commercial and residential use.

In addition, national, state and local regulatory structures set up to control the use of these pesticides do not adequately protect public health and the environment. For example, state laws to prevent incidences of pesticide spray drifting from one property to another are rarely enforced. Most state laws prohibit municipalities from passing regulations to locally control the use of lawn pesticides.

Over the past six month, Toxics Action Center asked residents to call TruGreen ChemLawn to inquire about their lawn care service. Through this informal survey we found anecdotal evidence that shows that TruGreen ChemLawn’s customer service procedures make it difficult for potential customers to acquire factual information about the dangers of their pesticide products. When asked, TruGreen ChemLawn phone marketing representatives often did not readily release the names of the pesticides they would use on the customer’s lawn. In addition, the marketers generally did not even know about the public health threats of the products. Written information was often not offered or provided for customers. The TruGreen ChemLawn website has no mention of its roster of pesticide products and their health and environmental impacts. In addition, TruGreen ChemLawn representatives at times misrepresented their pesticide products as “safe”, a possible violation of federal law.

TruGreen ChemLawn conducts aggressive telemarketing campaigns to sell its product and also has used children to help market its product. Their past affiliation with the US Youth Soccer provided them with an inside track to influence soccer-playing kids and their parents.

Children, pets and the environment need to be protected from dangerous pesticides. Lawn care and landscaping services can deliver healthy green lawns through non-toxic organic programs. Groups like the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) regularly train and certify professionals who offer pesticide-free services.

Toxics Action Center urges residential and commercial customers to Refuse to Use ChemLawn until TruGreen ChemLawn changes the way it does its business. Toxics Action Center calls on TruGreen ChemLawn, as the industry leader in pesticide-based lawn care services, to take immediate steps to protect the health and safety of children, pets, and the environment from the dangers of their services.

Toxics Action Center demands that TruGreen ChemLawn:

• Phase out the use of pesticides. TruGreen ChemLawn should immediately stop the use of those pesticides considered possible carcinogens by the USEPA and the IARC.
• Disclose all ingredients in their pesticide products, including the so-called inert ingredients. TruGreen ChemLawn should educate consumers by readily providing information to its customers over the phone, in writing, and on its website about the health and environmental effects of its products.
• Offer a comprehensive organic lawn care program that does not use pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. TruGreen ChemLawn should require its applicators to pass an accredited organic lawn care program.
• Stop using children to market products. TruGreen ChemLawn should not enter into any promotional campaign similar to its partnership with US Youth Soccer, which encouraged families to hire TruGreen ChemLawn with promises of financial support for the town’s youth soccer league.

Residents are taking the Be Truly Green: Refuse to Use ChemLawn campaign to their neighborhoods by setting up outreach campaigns to educate their communities on the dangers of lawn pesticides.

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