My favorite moments of 2010

Looking back at a great year, I can't help reflecting on how much I love being a part of this organization and working with the fantastic supporters who make us what we are.

These were some of the highlights of 2010 for me:

• Getting to be color commentator with our emcee Ryan Parker at the Love Bug 2010. 500 people came to cheer on dozens of local artists as they drew bugs all night!
  
  
• Hearing from child care centers around the state that they want to detox their centers. My co-workers Billie and Ana trained over 300 child care professionals this year!


• Meeting with Congressman G.K. Butterfield, who is now a co-sponsor of the Toxic Chemical Safety Act. You’ll be hearing lots more from us about this ground-breaking federal legislation in the coming months.
  


• Sitting down to lunch with farm workers, the press and supporters as we launched the Harvest of Dignity campaignwith our friends at Farmworker Advocacy Network.
  


• Getting to know the tight-knit group of “Women without Borders,” the farmworker women who are organizing a community garden in eastern North Carolina.
  


• Working with our 106 fantastic volunteers, like superstar Laura Valencia. Our wonderful volunteers put in over 2,200 hours of service to Toxic Free NC this year!

I can’t wait to see what 2011 will bring, and I’m so grateful for all the great supporters who are on board with us for it. Here’s to a bright new year!

Toxic Free NC Teaming up with Locopops for Labor Day Fiesta!

Raleigh, NC - Toxic Free North Carolina will be the special guest at Locopops' Fifth Anniversary Party on September 6th from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Raleigh store on Hillsborough St. The Raleigh celebration is one of three being held simultaneously at Locopops stores around the Triangle.

Raleigh neighbors will be stopping by between cookouts and pool parties to enjoy a Locopop and learn about Toxic Free NC's work fighting pesticide pollution in North Carolina. All of the proceeds from the event will go to benefit Toxic Free NC, North Carolina's only organization working to put people before pesticides!

When: Monday, September 6th, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

What: A PARTY to celebrate Locopops' 5th year in business!

Where: Locopops, 1908 Hillsborough St., Raleigh, NC

Who: Hosted by Locopops Head Chef Timothy Fletcher and Toxic Free NC

About Toxic Free NC:

Toxic pesticides are over-used in North Carolina and around the world, polluting the food we eat, the water water we drink, and ultimately, our bodies. Toxic Free NC fights pesticide pollution in North Carolina by advocating for common-sense alternatives that protect our health and environment.

Toxic Free NC’s one simple goal is to get rid of pesticide pollution in our water, our food and our bodies.
We work together with those who care about the environment and our health to make our communities safer. You can find more information about our programs, including Toxic Free Kids and Just and Sustainable Agriculture, at www.toxicfreenc.org or by calling 1-877-NO-SPRAY.

About Locopops:

When Locopops opened its doors in May of 2005 in Durham, the customers who first happened in were from the bordering neighborhoods. Locopops quickly became a part of the community in a way we hadn’t anticipated - putting a whole new spin on how we thought about our business and what we wanted to accomplish. The community is good to us, so we strive to be good to the community. We actively support community groups, PTA’s, student groups, animal shelters and other non-profits through fundraising activities, donations, and public art space. Learn more at: www.ilovelocopops.com.

Get you some bug art

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the Love Bug art show & benefit for Toxic Free NC, and to all the volunteers, artists and sponsors who made it AWESOME!

If you missed the show, or went home without some wonderful new bug art tucked under your arm, here's your chance! There's still Love Bug art for sale through the month of August. View the galleries here, or stop on by Epona and Oak before August is out to view these pieces in person.

We are also auctioning off the three remaining pieces from the finalist round! Check them out below, make a bid, and thanks for supporting us - all proceeds go to Toxic Free NC's work fighting pesticide pollution in NC.



"Caterpillar Party," by Paul Dumlao
8.5x11, ink on paper
Bid on this drawing











"Butterfly Queen of Hearts," by Pete Sack
8x10, ink and watercolor on paper
Bid on this drawing


















"PBR Bug Party," by Bart Cusick
8x10, ink on paper
Bid on this drawing

LoveBug People's Choice Winner Announced!

Local artist Sean Kernick wins by landslide, earns seat in finalists round

Contact: Ana Duncan Pardo, Toxic Free NC
(919) 818-5933 | ana[at]toxicfreenc.org

Raleigh, NC – Yesterday Toxic Free North Carolina announced the winner of the LoveBug People’s Choice poll. Raleigh artist Sean Kernick won the online poll by a significant margin, and will be given an automatic seat in the finalists round of the art competition. Ten LoveBug competitors created insect self-portraits for a week-long People’s Choice campaign on Facebook. All the artists’ self-portraits can be seen on Toxic Free NC’s Facebook page.

People's Choice Artist Sean Kernick is available for interviews. Please contact Ana Duncan Pardo for more information.

What: LoveBug is a combination live on-street art competition and gallery opening hosted by Toxic Free NC at Epona & Oak in downtown Raleigh’s City Market. This year LoveBug has garnered support from a variety of local business sponsors, including Burt’s Bees Greater Good Foundation, Whole Foods, Empire Eats, Locopops, Visual Arts Exchange and many others, and the 2010 artist line-up includes local notables David Eichenberger, Amy Sawyer and Bart Cusick.

LoveBug will kick off on First Friday, August 6 at 6 p.m. with a young artist’s round, followed by two grown-up rounds. The competitor whose art receives the highest total bid wins, and in the evening the two finalists will compete with the People’s Choice winner to create a buggy masterpiece; sold auction-style. The artist whose piece earns the highest bid wins!

All proceeds from the event will go to Toxic Free NC to support their ongoing work to get toxic pesticides out of North Carolinians’ air, water, food and bodies.

When: August 6, 2010 (First Friday) 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Where: Epona & Oak, 329 Blake St. City Market (map)

Participating artists: David Eichenberger; Amy Sawyer; Chris Norris; Sean Kernick+; Paul Dumlao+; Casey Porn*; Bart Cusick+; Catherine Hannah+; David Welch+; Pete Sack; Patrick Hitesman+; Wesley Hare; Kiki Farish*; Denee’ Black*; Rosalynn Villaescusa*; Desiree Peterson*; Sherri Pekks*; Samantha Henneke*; Bruce Gholdon*; Ann Marie Kennedy*; Christina Preher*; Eliza Campbell Kiser*; Jeremy Bond*; Becky Wofford-Waehner*; Ginger Gehres*; Terri Reiser*; Robert Shertz*

* = exhibit only + = exhibit & First Friday Competition

About Toxic Free North Carolina
Toxic pesticides are over-used in North Carolina and around the world, polluting our food, water and our bodies. Toxic Free NC fights pesticide pollution in North Carolina by advocating for common-sense alternatives that protect our health and environment. We are an independent non-profit organization -- North Carolina’s only organization working to put people before pesticides. Learn more at www.toxicfreenc.org.

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We're finalists!

Check it out everyone...our documentary short from last summer is a finalist in the EPA Environmental Justice video contest!

We're so proud of the work done by Laura Valencia, our 2009 intern through SAF's Into the Fields summer internship program, and also extremely proud of all the workers who contributed to the video by speaking up and speaking their minds about pesticides on the job! Also, many thanks to SAF and to the folks at Beehive for helping us make it happen!

Stay tuned for further updates, and in case you haven't seen it yet, here's our video!

Infestations Vacationsgoofy but great home pest prevention video from US EPA

Thanks to Toxic Free NC board member Dr. Katherine Shea for sharing this link! The EPA recently released this funny little video - Infestations Vacations - together with a set of recommendations about preventing home rodent infestations. It's right on for preventing a lot of other home pest issues, too!



Rat poison - a.k.a. rodenticides - can be so dangerous, for kids, pets and a lot of non-rodent critters, so this is especially needed. Nice work EPA! Sorry it's not easier to share - that's EPA's fault, not ours. You can download copies of the video from their website pretty easily, though.

Our Favorite Green Gifts

Whether you’re trying to keep your holiday gift shopping green, or trying to please a hardcore greenie on your list, these “best green gift” testimonials from the people of Toxic Free NC are sure to help! Readers, please leave your favorite green gifts in the comments - thank you!

Billie (staff): CSA-friendly cookbook. “My mom got me Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone a few years ago. It’s been super helpful to me as a CSA farm member and farmers’ market shopper because it’s got recipes organized by vegetable. So, when I get something weird from my CSA, like a rutabaga, I can just flip to the section in this cookbook about rutabagas and learn all about them - different varieties, flavor pairings that work well with rutabagas, basic cooking instructions, as well as full-fledged recipes. The cookbook does the same thing with different beans and grains, like quinoa and stuff. Doesn’t actually matter that much if you’re a vegetarian!”

Fawn (staff): Angel tree gifts. “My favorite green gift is the Angel Tree. My mom chose a child’s name from one of those Angel Trees at the mall, bought the child a new coat and then gave me a little box with a note telling me that my gift was the child’s new coat. I couldn’t have asked for anything nicer!”

Ana (staff): Used books. “Some would say that the greenest product is one that has already been used by someone else before. That said, I think the stack of thoughtfully chosen used books I get from my husband every Christmas is a pretty great (and green and thrifty) present!”

Renée (staff): A bicycle for green vacationing. “A few years ago my husband bought me a bicycle for the holidays. Since then, we always take our bikes on vacations up and down the East coast. It’s such a wonderful way for us to spend quality time together, and to see the beautiful scenery along the Coast, on the Appalachian Trail, or wherever we may wander!”

Kathy (Board member): Donations to charity. “I like and give donations. I’m well past needing “stuff” of any description. It’s catching on in our family, so now our tree has bunches of envelopes under it instead of boxes. Cool! At Christmas we use Church World Service as our vehicle, others use Heifer in the family.” PS from Billie: I’d be remiss if I did not also mention that you can make a contribution to Toxic Free NC in honor of a loved one for the holidays, or anytime. If you get your gift contribution in on or before 12/14/09, we’ll get your honoree a handmade card in the mail before Christmas.

Annie (Board member): Recycled wrapping. “We have a friend whose family not only wraps presents in recycled newspaper and comics, but they put the presents in cereal boxes! You can have real fun with that one.” PS from Billie: Here’s the instructions for a recycled gift bow, as pictured above! I wonder what a “metal brad” is, and where to acquire one?

Allen (Board member): Clyde Jones recycled wood sculpture critter. “My family surprised me (completely) with a Clyde Jones “critter” years ago. They made me sit with my eyes closed while they dragged it out from under a blanket in Dan’s closet. There was quite a racket and much scuffling while I waited. Opening my eyes I was completely surprised and pleased. It is made from firewood nailed together. He still guards our garden years later and I smile every time I see the deer-like ‘Clyde’.”

Christopher (volunteer): Planet Earth DVDs. “A gift from my mom a couple years ago. For one, the footage is beautiful. As for why such a green gift? Easy. Imagine having a super up-close view of the most pristine, magical places on earth; viewing animals in their natural habitats; exploring the bottom of the ocean…without leaving your house. Having the experience of all the sites and sounds without flying thousands of miles and expending all that energy is way green. Also, it opens up that soft and tender spot in your soul. The part that says, ‘wow, this is amazing. I want to protect it.’ “

5 great years!

This week Billie Karel celebrates 5 years on the staff of Toxic Free NC.

As our Program Coordinator, Billie has developed outstanding Volunteer and Community Organizing programs, built our beautiful website, coordinates the Board Development Committee and our new Leadership Committee, keeps everyone in the loop with Action Alerts, and does a million other things to make Toxic Free NC successful. Billie also sings and dances and is generally just fun to be around. That’s why we’ve decided that today is Billie Karel Appreciation Day at Toxic Free NC.

We hope you'll join us in celebrating Billie Karel Appreciation Day today. Together with all our friends, colleauges and supporters, Billie's work is helping us all acheive just & sustainable agriculture, and a toxic-free future for our children in North Carolina.

Earth Day, everyone?

Earth Day is coming up on Tuesday, April 22, and that means the Toxic Free NC team is busy gearing up for events and festivals all over the state. I hope we'll be seeing you at some of them!

Stop by and say hello to our staff and volunteers, color a bug or make a veggie painting like this guy, who had a ball at 5% Day last week, thanks to Whole Foods Market in Raleigh.

The Whole Foods stores in Raleigh and Chapel Hill dedicated their 5% Days last week to Toxic Free NC. We are so grateful to them for the generous donation, and for the chance to talk with so many new people (not to mention smashing beets for the sake of art).

Here's where we'll be celebrating Earth Day this year:

Saturday, April 20
Raleigh: Burt's Bees Planet Earth Celebration
Winston-Salem: Piedmont Earth Day Fair
Goldsboro: Wayne County Earth Day

Saturday, April 26
Fayetteville: Dogwood Festival
Washington: Beaufort County Earth Day

Sunday, April 27
Fayetteville: Dogwood Festival

There are lots more community events coming up where we'll be out meeting folks around the state, and we'd love to see you there. Check out our calendar of events to find one near you. If you're interested in helping us get out the word about Toxic Free NC and alternatives to pesticides, email Billie and let her know you'd like to volunteer with us at an upcoming event.

And happy Earth Day!

Service

This week PESTed celebrated the life and work of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. by honoring our volunteers. At a volunteer appreciation party on Monday at DesignBox, we got a chance to say "thank you" to some of the wonderful people who give of themselves to make the movement for pesticide reform and a toxic-free North Carolina possible.

The King holiday was set aside by Congress as a national day of service in 1994, in order to encourage Americans to carry out one of Dr. King's great themes: that of service to others. We thank our volunteers in this same spirit, that of recognizing that greatness comes not from one's achievements and one's status in society, but from the greatness of our humility and our devotion to humankind. Dr. King gave his famous sermon on service, "The Drum Major Instinct," at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in 1968. Here is a portion of that sermon, which I know you will recognize:

And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important — wonderful. If you want to be recognized — wonderful. If you want to be great — wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Amen) That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, (Everybody) because everybody can serve. (Amen) You don't have to have a college degree to serve. (All right) You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. (Amen) You only need a heart full of grace, (Yes, sir, Amen) a soul generated by love. (Yes) And you can be that servant.

Take a minute to read the whole sermon (and even listen to moving audio excerpts) at the website of the Stanford MLK Papers Project.

Like our wonderful volunteers, I hope that you will be moved to serve others every day, long after the National Day of Service is over.

P.S. Thanks also to those who sponsored our volunteer appreciation party and helped us say "thank you" to some of those who serve: DesignBox, Neu Romance Entertainment, The Carolina Brewing Company, and Susan Barringer Wells. Here are some pictures from the party for your enjoyment!

MLK Day Volunteer Appreciation Party

organic holidays

This week, as we gather with friends and family to give thanks for life's blessings, we also begin a frenzied holiday season. Chances are, the Thanksgiving holiday has got you thinking about gifts, parties, holiday baking and decorating, and a million more to-do list items. We've put together some resources to make your to-do list a little more sustainable, starting with organic Christmas trees:

Looking for an organic or sustainably-grown Christmas tree or wreath? Look no further than PESTed's annual guide, a great place to start your search.

PESTed also has a great archive of recipes for locally-grown North Carolina produce. Check out these tasty concoctions like sauteed collards, baked winter squash and apple crisp. Most of these great recipes come from our friends Anne Everitt and Susan Spalt, who both draw their ingredients lists from the Carrboro Farmer's Market.

Bloggers from around the environmental community are compiling resources for sustainable holiday celebrating and gift-giving this year. Check out this great sampling:

• Durham blogger Shari of The Glass Doorknob interviewed different artists each day last week, with links to their hand-made items to inspire your holiday gift list;
• The NC Conservation Network is planning a green-holiday blog post for later this week;
• Ethicurean just posted their vegetarian Thanksgiving favorites;
• Treehugger has an annual Green Gift Guide.

...and of course, one of the greenest gifts of all is a gift to PESTed. Check out our donations page to find out how to support our work, and how to make a donation in honor of a friend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Good news! Envelopes stuffed, Dole workers to be compensated

Good news: PestEd volunteers stuffed 1200 envelopes in about two hours last night. Good work, team! I'll include some pictures, below - when your fundraising appeal letter comes in the mail in a couple weeks, you'll know how it got stuffed.

Volunteers Maggie and Robyn stuffing envelopes on the left - check out that blur of envelope sealing action! New staffer Ana and volunteer Lee Ann stuff a monster stack of enveopes on the right. Great job, team!

And, the real good news: Nicaraguan farmworkers have been awarded $3.2 million dollars in a lawsuit against American company Dole Food, Inc. for exposing them to pesticides they say made them sterile. From a Nov 6 story in The LA Times:

A Los Angeles jury on Monday awarded $3.2 million to six Nicaraguan farmworkers who had sued Dole Food Co. Inc., arguing they had been rendered sterile some three decades ago by the international corporate giant's application of a banned pesticide on the plantations where they worked.

Jurors return today to consider whether Dole, and codefendant Dow Chemical Co., should be punished with more monetary damages. They will decide whether Dole acted maliciously in failing to warn its workers of the danger, and whether Dow engaged in gross negligence in manufacturing the chemical. (...)

From Beyond Pesticides:

(...) The lawsuit accused Dole and Standard Fruit Co., now a part of Dole, of negligence and fraudulent concealment while using the pesticide 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (DBCP) to kill rootworms on banana plants. Until 1977, DBCP was used in the United States as a soil fumigant and nematocide on over 40 different crops. (...)

More information on DBCP from pesticideinfo.org.

You may also be aware that Dow Chemical is implicated in the Bhopal disaster, but according to a recent story from Agence France-Presse, Dow may finally settle with the Indian government on a clean up plan.

Envelope Stuffing Party this Weds!Come on down.

PESTed's having it's semi-annual Envelope Stuffing Party this Weds, Nov 7th, between 5 and 8 pm at our office in downtown Raleigh, and we're looking for volunteers to come help out! You can come for the whole time, or just a portion of it (whatever works best for you). We'll have some delicious food and drinks, and music too. It's a fun and easy way to support PESTed's work, and meet some other like-minded people who volunteer for us.

To RSVP, or for more information, please email us, or give us a call at (919) 833-1123.

Thank you!

Updates from PESTed HQ

Hello dear fair ground readers! Several updates for you:

* Welcome to our (new and hopefully improved) blog. We apologize that we were looking so shabby there for a while, and hope you'll hang in there with us for a few more weeks while we work out the kinks with our new system. I'll let you know when it's time to update your links.

* We're proud to introduce PESTed's newest staff person to the blogosphere: Ana Pardo, Communications Coordinator. She's working to expand PESTed's Spanish-language outreach and organizing work, and improve media coverage of our work in both English and Spanish. You'll also get to hear from her on fair ground - look out for future posts authored by "Ana."

* Today (Weds, Oct 10th), several North Carolina public school systems are being honored for their progress in implementing least-toxic Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs at a ceremony in Raleigh. PESTed's Fawn Pattison will be speaking, along with Fuquay-Varina High School environmental science teacher Randy Senzig, and several state officials, most notably NC Superintendent for Public Education, June Atkinson. Congratulations to all the honorees!

>>For a complete list of today's School IPM honorees, click here (downloads a PDF file).

>>Don't see your school system on that list, and wondering what they're up to? Take Action! Check out PESTed's most recent Action Alert - Readin', Writin' and Riddin' of Bugs - for information about the rights of parents and teachers under the NC School Children's Health Act, and a sample letter you can send to your school system.

>>For more information on School IPM and PESTed's Toxic Free Kids program, click here.

* The latest news on the Ag-Mart case is not so great, and not actually all that new, but still very frustrating. From the Raleigh News & Observer, dated Oct 9:

A judge has recommended that the state Agriculture Department drop nearly all its 369 charges of pesticide violations against tomato grower Ag-Mart, the company announced Monday.

In a ruling issued last week, an administrative law judge said Ag-Mart should pay $6,000 in fines, down from an original fine of nearly $185,000.

But, as the article notes: "The final decision on the case still rests with the state Pesticide Board, as the judge's ruling is only a recommendation."

>>Full article from the Raleigh News & Observer

>>Don't like what's going on? Take action - you can start by writing a letter to the editor. Visit a PESTed Action Alert on Ag-Mart for tips - it's a little out of date, but the advice for writing a letter to the editor is still a-o-k. You may also be interested in other ways of taking action - just contact us for more ideas.

* Last, but definitely not least - Buggin' Out! Our first of three screenings of this zany reel of vintage film strips about bugs and pesticides took place in Raleigh last Sunday night, and was a huge success. Thank you very much to A/V Geeks' Skip Elsheimer, Tír Na Nóg Irish Pub, volunteers Heather, Robyn and Kate, and especially to everyone who came out to enjoy the evening and donate to PESTed. We really appreciate your support!

>>Did you miss the show in Raleigh? It's not too late to see Buggin' Out! in Greensboro on 10/20 or Chapel Hill on 10/21! More information here - please save the dates, and tell your friends and family to come join us.

>>Can't make it, but want to contribute towards making Buggin' Out! a success? Contact us to find out what we currently need in the way of volunteer help and supplies, or make a donation any time on our website.

That's all the latest news from PESTed HQ. Have a great week!

Pesticide Free Kids Days - Wrap up

This entry is written by Anna Jensen, who worked in PESTed's office this summer through the Into the Fields Internship program at Student Action with Farmworkers.

“What’s another way you can get rid of bugs in the house?” I prompted the 7-year-old standing in front of me.

With a little more coaxing, she finally remembered: “Squish them!”

“Do it!” the other kids urged, and she pantomimed stepping on me. Like any good cockroach would do, I curled up and died. Our audience of parents laughed and applauded.

The occasion for my transformation into a cockroach was Pesticide-Free Kids Day, an event that I organized in two different small towns in North Carolina this summer. Families in Prospect Hill (near Hillsborough) and Bailey (near Wilson) gathered to talk about pesticide use in their communities and how to protect their children from exposure. PESTed worked with health clinics and Migrant Head Start centers in these areas to organize an afternoon of food, children’s games, and discussion about the risks of pesticides and safe alternatives. During the parents’ discussion, the children created a play about the dangers of pesticides, and other ways to kill or prevent bugs in the house, which was how I ended up crawling around on the floor pretending to have antennae.

Both events aimed to teach safe pest control to parents, with an emphasis on safety for farmworker families who face additional work-related exposure besides the everyday dangers of pesticide drift, household pesticides, and food contamination. Parents had an opportunity for hands-on learning with a “make-your-own nontoxic cleaner” station, and kids learned about safe pest control as well by doing activity booklets, playing the quiz wheel, and creating their own play about safe alternatives to pesticides. Kids and adults alike enjoyed meals made from fresh local food donated by area farmers and stores. We finished off the events with raffle drawings for prizes like phone cards, gift cards, and movie tickets, also donations from concerned community businesses.

Perhaps most importantly, PESTed also had a chance to learn what families’ primary concerns were; whether parents were worried about safe home pest control, pesticide drift, or the pest control plans of their health clinics or daycares. PESTed staff gave the families information about alternatives, and the parents discussed among themselves and with the community partners present what their priorities were in reducing pesticide use in the area. PESTed made connections with parents, health clinics, and daycares who are interested in continuing to work together to ensure “Pesticide-Free Kids” in their communities!

See photos from Pesticide Free Kids Day - Prospect Hill and Pesticide Free Kids Day - Bailey.

Happy birthday to a hero

This week one of North Carolina's environmental heroes celebrates her 90th birthday. Jane Sharp MacRae is an inspiring trailblazer for energy, the environment, consumer rights and women in politics. PESTed was lucky to have Jane as a Board member for nearly two decades, and she now honors us as an "emeritus" member of our Board of Directors.

In the photo at right, Jane and her husband Duncan MacRae work with PESTed staff on an air monitoring project at their home in Carolina Meadows. Jane and other members of the Carolina Meadows Recycling Committee used a Drift Catcher to monitor pesticides in the air during spring pesticide spraying by grounds management around their homes and on a nearby golf course.

A lifelong learner, leader and tireless activist for the environment, Jane is an inspiration to us on her 90th birthday. Check out this wonderful article about her in the Chapel Hill News.

PESTed in Greenville, NC

PESTed spent last Saturday at KidsFest - The Greenville Convention Center was *packed* with some 7000 children and parents from the Greenville area! PESTed did some fun educational activities with the children, and also spoke with parents about using safer alternatives to pesticides at home, school and childcare.

At left, you see several young children pounding colorful bits of vegetables to transfer their pigments onto squares of muslin fabric in an activity we call "Veggie Painting." Kids work out some energy with all that pounding! They also learn about some new vegetables they might not have tried before, and about the high vitamin content of fresh fruits and vegetables....and when they're finished, they have a beautiful piece of abstract veggie art to take home!

PESTed also has a "Color-a-Bug" station for kids - see some of our young artists, at right.

We're planning to bring the PESTed info & activity booth to several more festivals in different parts of North Carolina this month - check out our calendar for the schedule. Would you be interested in coming to help out at one of these events as a volunteer? Or, would you like to see the PESTed booth come to your town this year? Let us know!

Join the Moutholucion!

Great new video from the folks at Free Range Media: