Bill Text: NY J01179 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Commending The Garden Club of America for partnering with The Great Healthy Yard Project to improve overall water quality and produce healthy backyards

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 40-22)

Status: (Passed) 2019-04-30 - ADOPTED [J01179 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-J01179-Introduced.html

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Senate Resolution No. 1179

BY: Senator HARCKHAM

        COMMENDING  The  Garden  Club  of America upon the
        occasion of partnering with The Great  Healthy  Yard
        Project to improve overall water quality and produce
        healthy backyards

  WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize those
individuals  and  organizations  within the great State of New York that
are dedicated to the vital work of environmental protection; and

  WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and  in  full  accord  with  its
long-standing  traditions,  this  Legislative  Body  is  justly proud to
commend The Garden Club of America upon the occasion of partnering  with
The  Great  Healthy  Yard  Project  to improve overall water quality and
produce healthy backyards; and

  WHEREAS, Founded in 1913, The Garden Club of America is a volunteer,
non-profit organization comprised of 201 member clubs and  approximately
18,000 club members throughout the country; and

  WHEREAS,  The  Garden  Club  of  America was formed to stimulate the
knowledge and love of gardening; to share the advantages of  association
by  means  of  educational  meetings,  conferences,  correspondence, and
publications; and to restore, improve, and protect the  quality  of  the
environment  through  educational  programs  and action in the fields of
conservation and civic improvement; and

  WHEREAS, Always thinking of ways to further its mission, The  Garden
Club  of  America  joined  forces with The Great Healthy Yard Project to
urge individuals to take the pledge and join it in taking care of  their
yards  without  synthetic  chemicals,  and not throw pharmaceuticals and
chemicals down their drains and toilets to protect  our  water  quality;
and

  WHEREAS,  Many  of these chemicals may be harmful to our health; new
evidence has shown even very small amounts may cause an increase in  the
population of a number of significant diseases; and

  WHEREAS,  Water  is  truly  a  shared  resource;  the  United States
Geological Survey found almost every stream, lake,  and  river  sampled,
and half of the ground water well across the country tested positive for
pesticides; and

  WHEREAS,  According  to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service,
homeowners use 10 times more chemicals per acre  than  farms,  and  NASA
reports  there  is three times more lawn than corn in the United States;
and

  WHEREAS, In 2014, Dr. Diane Lewis, a member of  the  Bedford  Garden
Club,   combined  her  knowledge  of  medicine  with  her  love  of  the
environment to create The Great Healthy  Yard  Project,  a  movement  to
protect our most valuable resources as well as our own health; and

  WHEREAS, Through The Great Healthy Yard Project, Dr. Diane Lewis has
dedicated  her  work  to  teaching  others  how  chemicals end up in our
drinking water, and what effects they have on our  bodies,  as  well  as
teaching  alternative ways to take care of our lawns and gardens without
harmful chemicals; and

  WHEREAS,  Throughout  New York, 23 garden clubs have agreed to stand
with The Great Healthy Yard Project and the State to educate  homeowners
and garden enthusiasts that the only way to keep pesticides, herbicides,
fertilizers  and pharmaceuticals out of our water and protect the health
of our children is to not use them in their yards, and not to dispose of
them down their drains and toilets; and

  WHEREAS, The New York clubs which endorse  The  Great  Healthy  Yard
Project   and   have  called  upon  their  members  and  communities  to
voluntarily take the pledge are: Adirondack Garden Club,  Allyn's  Creek
Garden  Club,  Bedford Garden Club, Fort Orange Garden Club, Garden Club
of East Hampton, Garden Club  of  Irvington-on-Hudson,  Garden  Club  of
Lawrence,  Garden  Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties, Lake and Valley
Garden Club, Millbrook Garden Club, North Country Garden  Club  of  Long
Island,  North  Suffolk  Garden Club, Philipstown Garden Club, Rochester
Garden Club, Rusticus Garden Club, Rye Garden Club,  South  Side  Garden
Club  of Long Island, Southampton Garden Club, Syracuse Garden Club, The
Little Garden Club of Rye, Three  Harbors  Garden  Club,  Ulster  Garden
Club, and Westhampton Garden Club; and

  WHEREAS,  Through  the  steadfast efforts of both The Garden Club of
America and The Great Healthy Yard Project, citizens across  the  Nation
have  pledged  to take care of their yards without synthetic pesticides,
weed killers and fertilizers except on  rare  occasions  to  resolve  an
infestation  or  to improve habitat for native plants and wildlife; they
have also pledged not to throw pharmaceuticals or chemicals  down  their
drains or toilets; and

  WHEREAS,  The  more  people  who  take  the  pledge, the cleaner our
drinking water will be; and

  WHEREAS, It is incumbent upon all citizens to recognize and  applaud
the  efforts of individuals and organizations such as The Garden Club of
America and The Great Healthy Yard  Project  which  work  tirelessly  on
behalf of protecting our natural surroundings for the benefit of present
and future generations of New Yorkers; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend The Garden Club of America upon the occasion of partnering  with
The  Great  Healthy  Yard  Project  to improve overall water quality and
produce healthy backyards; and be it further

  RESOLVED, That a copy of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted  to  The  Garden  Club of America and The Great Healthy Yard
Project.