Students Portray Messages About Organic Lawn Care

The recently held its 2012 Organic Lawn Care Poster Contest for Bernards Township schools' fifth graders with the intention of spreading the word for encouraging property owners to care for their own lawns without the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

"Bernards Township is proud to care for its municipal and school lawns, parks, and sports fields without the use of lawn care pesticides and synthetic fertilizers," Commission Chairman Joseph Speeney said in a recent release.

The contest has been held in recent years to teach homeowners about how they might turn to organic lawn care. The township's program began with an initiative on township-owned property in 2008.

An awards ceremony for this year's winners, selected at the township's four elementary schools, was held at last week's meeting, with Mayor Mary Pavlini presenting the award.

The Environmental Commission partnered with the school district’s science curriculum advisor, Brian Heineman, in the design of the contest.

Heineman constructed a "learning module" about comprehensive ecosystems that covered the hazards of lawn care pesticide pollution coupled with content on the prevention of such hazards through the active process of organic lawn care.

Speeney said 452 students took part in the poster contest, with each fifth grade classroom having a classroom winner and each of the four elementary schools having an overall winner. All participating students received a certificate and a Pesticide Free Zone sticker.

Each of the elementary schools participated, including the the ; the ; and

The four winning students, shown in the photo, each received a notarized copy of the resolution from the Township Committee memorializing and honoring their accomplishment, as well as Pesticide Free Zone t-shirts.

The t-shirts and stickers were generously donated by Pesticide Free Zone, Inc., www.PesticideFreeZone.org, Speeney said.

Pavlini read the resolution to the winning students, and congratulated them a job very well done. Environmental Commission Chairman Speeney praised the winners for “outstanding communication skills displayed by the students in explaining the concept of organic lawn care through their posters.” He added, "The fantastic work done by all the students...made judging extraordinarily difficult.”

The basics of organic lawn care include a focus on healthy soil through the use of organic fertilizer and steps such as aeration, overseeding, mowing high, and watering infrequently & deeply. A more complete discussion and list of resources regarding organic lawn care may be found online on the environmental commission's page on the township website.