Good ideas have a way of spreading! The Lawn to Lake effort has expanded from Vermont/New York to include southern Lake Michigan! Visit the Great Lakes Lawn to Lake website.
News & Media
Phosphorus fertilizer signs available to Vermont retailers, 1/17/12
Free point of sale materials for retailers "Don't 'P' on the lawn," Burlington Free Press 2/28/10 Water Quality Improves After Lawn Fertilizer Ban, Study Shows Science Daily 8/27/09 "It's Easy Being Green," WCAX News, 5/14/08 VT Agency of Agriculture PSAs (Windows Media Videos) - Responsible Fertilizer Use (3 MB) - Don't P on Your Lawn! (3 MB) NEWS: Switch to Phosphorus-Free Fertilizer for Fall Lawn Care [8/28/07] "Critical lawn-care season arrives now" by Amy Ivy - Press Republican, 8/20/07 "Urban, Suburban Pollution Threaten Lake," Burlington Free Press, 8/14/07 "Lawn to Lake Connection" WCAX News, 8/10/07  Local retailers encouraged to carry P-free fertilizers "Don't 'P' on Your Lawn" Casin' the Basin Spring 07 (900 KB PDF) "All fertilizers are not alike" by Amy Ivy - Press Republican, 5/7/07 "For A 'Green' Lawn, Focus On Mowing, Not Early Fertilizing," Cornell News Release 4/30/07 |
Don't P on your lawn!
It's the Law! New laws in Vermont and New York that took effect January 1, 2012, prohibit the application of phosphorus fertilizers except in certain circumstances. Fertilizer with phosphorus may be applied to new lawns (or non-agricultural turf in the 1st growing season in New York) or if a soil test indicates a phosphorus deficiency. Photos: Metro Watershed Partners
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"P" stands
for phosphorus—the most
problematic pollutant in Lake Champlain and in many other lakes in Vermont
and northern New York. Phosphorus is a nutrient found in most lawn and
garden fertilizers. When fertilizers run off from lawns and into lakes,
they feed unsightly, smelly and potentially toxic blue-green algal blooms. 
Make
a Switch! It's easy for home
owners and businesses to switch to P-free (phosphorus-free) lawn
fertilizers to reduce urban sources of phosphorus.
Doing so may help reduce algal growth in your favorite lake—and
you can still have a beautiful lawn!