CLEVELAND--The Cuyahoga County Council passed unanimously recent legislation that forbids the use of pesticides on county-owned properties.
The legislation was sponsored by District 11 Councilwoman Sunny Simon, of South Euclid, and District 10 Councilman Julian Rogers, of Cleveland Heights.
The move towards drawing the legislation was spurred by an event Simon and Rogers attended a little over a year ago at the Cleveland Botanical Garden hosted by the environmental organization Beyond Pesticides Ohio.
“We help on all things related to pesticide reform,” said Beyond Pesticides Ohio Executive Director Barry Zucker, of University Heights. “We deal with how to transform to safer pest control techniques, good sanitation and organic methods of weed control.
“Anything with ‘cide’ in its name is for killing,” he said.
“I’ve always been interested in this issue, even when I was (a city council member) in South Euclid,” Simon said. “I think it’s a significant step in eliminating toxins and protecting health.”
Simon, a noted animal lover who founded the South Euclid Humane Society, said, “This helps protect all animals, humans, too.”
Said Rogers, “I give Barry a lot of credit for bringing this to our attention. Even though the county doesn’t own a lot of property in the big scheme of things, we own enough to make a difference.”
Cleveland Heights passed a law in 1995 banning pesticides from property it owns. Zucker said it was the first city in the U.S. to do so.
In 2011, the state of New York became the first state to ban pesticides from school grounds and playing fields of children from kindergarten to 12th grades.
Studies have shown that children are more vulnerable to pesticides than adults. Toxins from pesticides have shown to cause cancer, liver and kidney damage, asthma and birth defects, among other health problems, according to Grassroots Environmental Education.
Zucker said that organic grass and weed treatments are just as effective as those that use chemicals. For further information on pesticides and organic treatments, visit beyondpesticidesohio.org.