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Presentation to the
Civic Environment Committee
by Glenda Whiteman, CROW, Inc.
July 19, 2004
Introduction
Thank you for inviting me to speak before the committee today.
I was under the impression that I was invited here to make a presentation
about ways and means the city could transition to more organic
horticulture methods with very little budget. I see that the agenda
states the purpose for our visit as being to present the need
for a safe park. I was hoping we were already beyond the stage
of recognizing that need, but we may not be, so I will attempt
to provide information about those two issues.
After being invited to present here, I requested help from contacts
within Manitoba and across the country. What I will be sharing
with you today is a compilation of my own ideas and all the feedback
that I received from the experts and scientists and other environmentalists.
Commentary
Before I begin presenting about those two topics, however, I
cannot resist a comment.
There is a certain need for a paradigm shift. We have been asked
to help the city
"develop novel natural, non-toxic substances to apply to
city parks and boulevards for weed control and nutrient enrichment."
I would rather we develop a new attitude which includes more
tolerance for weeds. Why do we have to kill the 'weeds'? What
is a weed anyway? Things that are considered 'noxious' here are
prize-winning centuries-old heritage in France.
Webster's calls a weed, "1. a valueless plant growing wild,
esp. one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury
of the desired crop 2. any useless, troublesome, or noxious plant."
Noxious, as defined by Webster's means, "harmful or injurious
to health or physical well-being."
Would anybody like some more tea? Some more "taraxacum officinale"?
Some more "pissenlit"? It is said that, "The roots
and leaves are most often used to treat liver conditions such
as jaundice and hepatitis, and to encourage normal digestion.
The yellow flower also contains beneficial compounds. In fact,
all parts of the plant have high concentrations of vitamin A,
as well as choline, a B vitamin that stimulates the liver. It
is even being explored as a treatment for cancer and other conditions."
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,10021,00.html
In my ESL classes, I used to teach people to examine words to
look for word families and other familiarities to help them figure
out the meaning of words. In my grade 12 French classes, I used
to teach the meaning of pissenlit. In case you don't know en lit,
it means in bed. The wine was so good, people would, well you
know, ____ in bed. Who knows what we call this in English? (dandelions)
I must admit, I am a bit confused. Pesticides are toxic at any
dose, otherwise they wouldn't work, yet we call dandelions noxious.
The Need for Safe Parks
Please allow me to speak to the need for safe parks. Everyone
deserves to enjoy our city's parks. It is very unfortunate that
a lot of people cannot use the parks during summertime when chemicals
are in use. On Mother's Day, I called Assiniboine Park to ask
where we would be safe given that my granddaughter is not yet
2 and I am chemically sensitive. Which areas of the park have
not been chemically treated in the last 3 days or so, I asked.
I was told flat out, "If you are sensitive, this is not the
place for you." Sadly, whether they know it or not, the percentage
of our society considered 'sensitive' is vast. According to the
House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable
Development, those most vulnerable to pesticides include fetuses,
children, seniors, women, Aboriginal people, persons suffering
from multiple chemical sensitivity or in poor health, and professional
users of pesticides.
Yet we call dandelions, noxious.
Ideas
- Adopt-a-park (se http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/council_highlights/2003/072203.htm)
- partner with community groups (solicit the assistance of
gardening org's, legions, comm. centres, ngo's, churches, …)
- develop a rotating schedule of responsibility for selected
parks
- students from universities doing research projects
- write funding proposals to Wpg Foundation, TD enviro-fund…
- ask for the public's help
- request volunteers knowledgeable in organic gardening, to
team up with city workers
- offer greenhouses, landscaping companies, gardening organization,
etc. space in public parks to display organic horticulture methods
- work together with the Manitoba Eco-Network to offer organic
lawn-care courses right in city parks, in exchange for hour-for-hour
maintenance
- have Parks employee's take organic lawn care courses
- team up with composting organizations to replace fertilizers
(vermi-compost)
- use wood chips from the trees you cut down instead of herbicides
Advice that has come in from requests for input:
- stagger the transition over a 2-3 year period
- look at what other municipalities have done to transition,
and learn from their mistakes (Halifax, Toronto, Montreal, Hudson)
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