LETTER: New year, new lawn

As we step into a new year full of resolutions, imagine a healthier home, safer children and pets free from toxic risks, all starting with your lawn. With so many new goals, I am writing because one simple change can protect your family’s health: stop using pesticides for cosmetic lawn care.

The new year often sparks people to take their health more seriously, but one major adversity to health is pesticide exposure. Pesticides don’t just kill weeds; they can have negative effects on people’s well-being. Research shows pesticide exposure is linked to rising cases of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, memory loss and impaired neural coordination. Children and fetuses are especially vulnerable due to weaker immune systems, with exposure causing birth defects, genetic disorders and hormonal disruption. Pesticides also have carcinogenic effects, contributing to cancers including leukemia, bladder, thyroid and brain.

Not only do pesticides have negative effects on human health, but they can also harm your pets. Your pets play on your lawn every day. Pesticides put them at risk of bladder cancer and lymphoma. Using chemicals on your lawn isn’t worth risking their health.

A weed-free lawn does not have to come at the cost of potentially harming your family’s health. Join Good Neighbor Iowa, a statewide initiative promoting pesticide-free lawn care. Join the other Union County residents who have pledged to go pesticide-free at goodneighboriowa.org and make 2026 the year we protect what matters most: our health, our pets and our planet.

Together, we can make a difference.