• Home
  • Forums
    • General Wallingford Chatter
    • Crime and Safety
    • For Sale – Wanted
    • Lost and Found
  • Local Links
  • Suggest a Story
  • About
Wallyhood
  • Home
  • Forums
    • General Wallingford Chatter
    • Crime and Safety
    • For Sale – Wanted
    • Lost and Found
  • Local Links
  • Suggest a Story
  • About

Hamilton Wants to be Pesticide Free

Kimberly May 17, 2015 6 Comments

Wallyhood Peter Carter SignaturesA few weeks back, when I posted about pesticide use at Wallingford Park, I heard from several families at Hamilton International Middle School. As noted before on this blog, Seattle Public Schools routinely utilizes pesticides at public schools, because it is more cost-effective than hand-weeding. There are so many concerns about the use of pesticides around children and pregnant women that I don’t even know where to begin my rant about this short-sighted behavior, so I will point you to the fact sheets available at the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP).

Seattle Public Schools has an official Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policy that includes using pesticides, “only as a last resort for solving pest problems.” However, people on the frontlines of this issue, such as Megan Dunn at the NACP, have discovered that SPS’s IPM policy is neither funded nor staffed. Ms. Dunn has appealed to SPS Superintendent Larry Nyland, who “was receptive” to funding and implementing the policy, but thus far no steps have been taken in that direction.

Enter the student Green Team at Hamilton International Middle School. This group of students wants to make Hamilton a “no spray zone” and are working to raise community awareness about this issue. To support their cause, neighbors can:

  • Sign their petition. It takes about one minute. I counted.
  • Come out to Wallingford Playfield at 3 pm on Sunday to support the students in their signature collecting efforts. They will be there dressed as bees and butterflies, and you (or your children) are welcome to don a pair of wings and meet them out there. They hope to raise awareness within the local neighbor and parent communities that Seattle Public Schools uses pesticides, as many people don’t know this. They will have paper copies of their petition available to sign as well.

Fingers crossed that the school district finds its students hard to ignore and actually starts implementing its own policy. It’s a good policy, and ought to be a model for the country instead of a document collecting dust while the district continues to spray.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Previous
Wallyhood Calendar: Spring Clean, U-District Street Fair
Next
Move Seattle: Wallingford Shows the Council They Care

6 Comments

  1. greg
    May 17, 2015 at 8:38 am

    Yes, and routine inoculations cause autism.

  2. Penny
    May 17, 2015 at 10:39 am

    they shouldn’t be using pesticides Anywhere! but let’s do it place by place until whomever’s in charge wakes up. Any short term gains (in time or money) are totally meaningless compared to Any short or long term harm caused by pesticides to children, people, domestic animals, wildlife, our environment, the whole planet….these are necessary stoppages, but we have to vote in conscious people with hearts to all the positions that have any say over our lives.

  3. Barbbsea
    May 17, 2015 at 7:12 pm

    KING 5 reporter Amy Moreno and cameraman Dave stopped by Wallingford Playfield this afteroon to interview the HIMS Green Team and learn more about the situation, thanks to this post on Wallyhood! The story will be on the 11:00 news tonight and the KING 5 web site Monday.

  4. Barbbsea
    May 18, 2015 at 8:25 am

    The Hamilton Green Team outreach activity at Wallingford Playfield was covered by KING 5 news:

    http://www.king5.com/media/cinematic/video/27518459/student-green-team-fighting-pesticide-use/

  5. Anne P.
    May 18, 2015 at 10:25 am

    Kimberly, did the school district really say they were using pesticides to deal with weeds? Pesticides shouldn’t have anything to do with hand weeding. Weeds would be treated with an herbicide such as Round-up. (To be clear, I am not a fan of either.)

    I’d love clarification on this issue. What chemicals are they using and to what end? Are there insects or rodents that they are trying to eliminate?

  6. Kimberly
    May 18, 2015 at 11:28 am

    Hi Anne,

    SPS defines pesticides to include herbicides and insecticides. They use herbicides like Roundup to tackle the weeds. They do also use rodent-icides, at least at my children’s school.

    Does that clear things up?

Wallyhood needs you! 

This community blog is all volunteer run, and we welcome articles from everyone in the Wallingford community. Something on your mind? Have a story to share? Please contact us at [email protected] today!

Editorial Board:

  • Julie Martin
  • Jack McLaughlin
  • Megan Dulgar Okabayashi
  • Gary Shigenaka

Subscribe

Get a daily summary of articles and forum conversations delivered to your email inbox.

Email Address (required)
First NameLast Name

Recent Article Comments

  • Bryan Kirschner on That’s a Wrap! Guild 45th Theater to be fully demolished — makes way for 70-unit apartment buildingYeah in our area of Wallingford - within an easy walk of this site - the only >1...
  • new and amused on Monday Sees Two (Possibly Three) Armed RobberiesI heard he was arrested and released between each of the robberies and that poli...
  • Bryan Kirschner on That’s a Wrap! Guild 45th Theater to be fully demolished — makes way for 70-unit apartment buildingSome people use HELOCs and/or have a plan for generational transfer of wealth. Y...
  • Wall on That’s a Wrap! Guild 45th Theater to be fully demolished — makes way for 70-unit apartment buildingIn cities that really do have a shortage of car parking people rent out their of...
  • Wall on Monday Sees Two (Possibly Three) Armed RobberiesHaving police recklessly speeding around the neighborhood today was scarry.

Archives

Create Account

Login or create an account

© 2009 - 2022 Wallyhood

 

Loading Comments...