Sustainable Novato

Here is an article speaking to the hot issue in my community:

Sustainable Novato is working to improve environmental health in our community in two specific areas

• First, Sustainable Novato seeks to reduce pesticide and herbicide use in Novato by 50%.  We have asked the City of Novato to establish an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Resolution (much like the City of San Rafael has already done), and are working with the Novato School District to implement its IPM policy, including full data disclosure.
• Second, Sustainable Novato is working to educate the community about the hazards of endocrine disruptors and build support for their reduction in our daily environment. We held a community forum to that end in the fall of 2009.  Both of these two focus areas include extensive networking and collaboration with other organizations holding similar interests.

Sustainable Novato is also concerned about the social justice implications of environmental issues. Those who are the most vulnerable often are the least aware of the health hazards of their daily choices.  Our community forums are a major public education component that is a prerequisite for our public advocacy.

This story first jumped out at me because the group is working with the Novato School District. This is interesting to me because at MA, nobody would think we would use pesticides; however, when I was at school over the summer I saw workers spraying weeds growing around the trees with a blue spray which got me thinking how MA certainly has a long way to go in terms of becoming a "green school" I thought it was impressive to see this organization working with Public Schools and would love to see the trend continue.