Climate Action Mendocino believes that parks should be herbicide free locations where family and friends can gather without worry.
Climate Action Mendocino arose out of a group called Environmental Action Group that formed during our community’s Indivisible meetings. We were concerned about the liberal use of pesticides, herbicides and other toxins in our community as well as in the state and our country. We were especially concerned when reading notices in our City of Ukiah parks that warned of staying off the grass since the grass had been sprayed with Roundup. Roundup has glyphosate as a main ingredient, which has been tested to be the leading cause of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, DNA and chromosomal damage to humans, ADHD, Alzheimer’s, Autism, birth defects, Celiac, colitis, Heart disease, Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome, Kidney Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Liver Disease. Roundup contains other toxins as well with the combination of herbicides delivering a severe toxic cocktail that affects humans.
Our group attended a City of Ukiah City Council meeting and spoke during the Public Comment period. We had our facts clear and had notified the City Council about our intention to appear. After about 6 or 7 of us spoke, we were referred to the Community Services Administrator and the Head of the City Parks Maintenance Dept. They were receptive to our concerns and that evening, outside the City Council meeting, we were able to come up with a plan to mulch rather than spray herbicides in the parks, which has been working for a few years and no herbicides are now used in the City parks.
The City of Ukiah via the Adopt a Park program is currently managing Todd Grove, Vinewood, Observatory, Orchard, and McGarvey parks without the use of chemical herbicides or OMRI certified herbicides as an alternative.