(By Ashley Chesser, NCAP Co-Director, in collaboration with Kimberly Gallagher of LearningHerbs.com) When is doing less the healthier choice? When it comes to maintaining your lawn! Letting common herbal weeds like dandelions grow in your lawn can support the health of people, pets and pollinators. Read on to see the benefits of herbal weeds in your lawn. Continue reading

State Level Legislation Here are policies that we're following at the state level in our Northwest region. Continue reading

(By Dominica Navarro Martinez, Co-Director) Español abajo Those who work outside in landscaping and yard maintenance know best what is needed when it comes to environmental protections, as well as what customers are asking for. They are the key to advancing new strategies in landscaping that are environmentally responsible! Continue reading

(By Sharalyn Peterson, Healthy Wildlife & Water Program Manager) Neonicotinoids, or neonics for short (pronounced NEE-oh-nix), are a type of systemic insecticide used widely in farming, plant nurseries and home pest control. A pesticide is “systemic” when it is absorbed by the plant and remains in its stems, roots, leaves, flowers and other parts. Neonics are either sprayed directly on the soil and on plants, or they are used to coat seeds for many crops (shown in image above). But like many pesticides, the toxic harms that neonics create aren’t just felt by the plants or seeds they are applied to. You might unknowingly be bringing neonics home to your garden, because plants sold in many nurseries are treated with neonics—see our list of Neonic-Free Nurseries in the Northwest in order to avoid these pesticides!   Continue reading

(By Dominica Navarro, Co-Director, and NCAP Staff) As I sit at my desk writing to you and listening to the rainfall in a typically dry region east of the Cascade mountains, I feel the onset of the winter months fast approaching. These seasonal shifts have sunk deep into me, igniting a renewed attention to and observation of the beautiful and intricate relationships that exist in nature. The diversity of relations I see on the land I steward and in my own pesticide-free garden are micro-versions of the relationships I strive to build on a daily basis. They are relationships rooted in reciprocity and justice, while simultaneously creating an often hectic dance to the music of buzzing productivity.  Continue reading