New app ranks more than 1,000 yard-care chemicals
Whether you want to maintain a safe and healthy lawn, grow the best roses or produce the perfect tomato, at some point you probably wonder how to do it without posing risks to kids, pets or local waterways.
A new app for iPhones helps you make decisions about yard care when it’s convenient for you – and often that’s while you are standing in the garden aisle at the store.
“It can be overwhelming to try to know everything about every product you use in your yard,” says Metro natural gardening expert Carl Grimm. “We wanted to make the information easy to find and use, whether you’re looking up what you already have or are about to make a purchase.”
The Grow Smart, Grow Safe® app ranks more than 1,000 yard-care chemicals, including the most commonly used ones, from pesticides to fertilizers. The rankings indicate a low, medium or high hazard and are based on data about the hazards to people, pets and wildlife, aquatic life, as well as potential for water pollution.
The app also provides basic gardening tips to help you care for your yard without toxics.
The app was created through a partnership between Metro, King County Local Hazardous Waste Management Program, and Thurston County Public Health and Social Services and based on information you can find online at growsmartgrowsafe.org. The ratings are approved by Washington and Oregon Master Gardeners.
You can download the app for free at the iTunes App Store.
Find how-to info for a safe and healthy yard