IPM STAR™ Reducing Pest and Pesticide Risks in our Communities

Goals  Context  What’s an IPM STAR?  IPM STAR for Schools  Pest Management Professionals  Landscape Service Providers

We have work to do!  Excess PHOSPHORUS in 75% of stream sites tested, excess NITRATES in 20% of wells  75% of streams w/5 or more detectable PESTICIDES - The State of the Nation’s Ecosystems, Heinz Center, 2002

Work to do continued  Average of 91 chemical contaminants in our bodies!  Of 167 chemicals found, 76 cause cancer, 94 are toxic to nervous systems and 79 cause birth defects or abnormal development - Body Burden, Environmental Working Group, Mt. Sinai School of Community Medicine, Commonweal, 2003

We can do better!!!  Who remembers rivers catching on fire in the 1960’s and 70’s?  Raptor recovery  Let’s work together to improve water quality and body burden  Health and eco are growing consumer concerns.

Credible communication Creates opportunities:  Build customer loyalty  Create access to new markets  Survive the next scare  Create new allies  Price premiums?

Consumers want to buy GREEN ORGANIC  Fastest growing segment of the food market  >40% of consumers have purchased organic in the last month

Key Lessons  Not everyone cares  Cake: quality, convenience, price  Eco is the “icing”  Make it meaningful

Eco-certification AG: CORE Values Northeast, Rainforest Alliance, Hood River IFP, Cornell University, Wegmans Food Markets, Low-Input Viticulture, CERTIMEX, Cornell, Rutgers, Univ. of Hawaii, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Canada apple IFP NEPMA IPM Registry, UMass Protocols for an IPM System on Golf Courses, IPM Institute IPM STAR Find more than 16 IPM links at

What the heck is an IPM STAR?  Born from IPM Standards for Schools, an on-line compendium of >250 IPM practices for schools, developed with more than 40 IPM professionals nationwide  E.g., policy, training, exclusion, sanitation, pesticides as last resort, choose least-toxic options

IPM STAR CERTIFIED  On-site audit by an lPM professional  Verify IPM practice: Minimum requirements, scored practices, least-toxic pesticides  Detailed recommendations for improvement  Three year renewal cycle

Least toxic?  No cholinesterase inhibitors  No carcinogens  No developmental, reproductive toxins  No danger, warning labels  Unless proven need, i.e., effective, lesser risk option is not available

ATTEST: Thomas A. Green, Ph.D., President IPM Institute of North America, Inc. The IPM Institute of North America, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program, certifies that the YOUR SCHOOL HERE is an IPM STAR CERTIFIED SCHOOL SYSTEM exceeding a Rigorous Standard for Integrated Pest Management YOUR SCHOOL’S exemplary performance in reducing pest and pesticide risks to health and the environment has been verified by an independent, third-party audit.

Renewal  Renewal audit  Maintain state of the art  Correct slippage  Check on promised improvements

Results! 18 school systems certified to date – 1.5 million students! Real IPM improvements New IPM awareness among consumers, taxpayers

Pest Management Professionals  Modeled after schools program  Must haves plus scored practices  Audit, report, three-year renewal  Two companies certified  Six in progress

On-site Audit  Random account record review, inspect inventory  Tie pesticide applications to a verified problem  Inspection, monitoring, sanitation, exclusion, communication are primary strategies  Legal: licenses, certifications  Customer feedback file

Marketplace  Working with 25 environmental/health advocacy groups  Looking for a credible way to direct callers to IPM service providers and products  Landscape service providers in 2006

Thank you! USDA IPM Program US EPA Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program National Foundation for IPM Education IPM Institute members and supporters