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02.10.12

Surf ‘n ORGANIC Turf

A twist on the dinner menu item, Surf 'n Turf, might be “Less Turf, More Surf.” Surfrider is not anti-lawn, seeing a place for use in active recreation, particularly in urban areas. That said, organic lawn care is a requirement to qualify for Surfrider's Ocean Friendly Gardens sign criteria.

At Surfrider OFG classes, The Organic Lawn Care Manual by writer and activist, Paul Tukey, is often mentioned. (He has written a new book about outdoor games for kids, putting their bodies in motion rather than sitting in front of a computer or smart phone).

Paul joined sustainable landscape leaders like G3/The Green Gardens Group's Pamela Berstler as speakers at last month's EcoLandscapes Conference near Sacramento, California. Surfrider contacted him to explore common ground and ways to work together. Recently, Paul's organization, SafeLawns, and its members got wind of the National Wildlife Federation accepting a sponsorship deal from the world's largest gardening and lawn care products company, Scotts Miracle Gro. A barage of emails from SafeLawns members and others seemed to work: the Federation announced that they would end the sponsorship deal.

After looking over the OFG sign critera, Paul printed them in-whole in a blog post! Paul plans to continue speaking around the country and welcomes opportunities to speak to groups such as Surfrider Chapters.