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Maine Integrated Pest Management Council's 2005 Strategy
Strategic Approach
The approach that our organization is taking to pesticide risk reduction is two-fold:
- Public Education - We will develop collaborative partnerships with other organizations and agencies to promote awareness and understanding of integrated pest management by the general public in order to reduce risks of pesticides used in and around homes and to increase public demand for reduced-risk IPM-produced products and IPM services.
- Networking - Provide a forum for timely information-sharing to promote and facilitate productive partnerships and collaborations for increasing the use of IPM as a means of reducing pesticide risk in Maine.
Activities for the Coming Year
Activity 1
We will promote public awareness of reduced-risk strategies for managing pests in and around residences by partnering with the Maine State Planning Office and targeted municipalities and support organizations to provide educational materials at household hazardous waste collection events.
How does this activity reduce pesticide risk?
We anticipate that this activity will increase public awareness of the environmental risks of pesticides at the time of disposal. By providing information on alternative approaches to pest management that are less reliant on higher risk pesticides we anticipate an increase in public interest in alternative means of managing pests in and around the home. We anticipate that people bringing unused pesticides to the waste collection event will welcome information about alternative pest management practices as a means of reducing the costs and efforts needed to properly dispose of pesticides
How will you measure the risk reduction gained from this activity?
Risk reduction will be measured by tracking the amounts of higher-risk pesticides collected at household hazardous waste collection events. In addition, we will track the numbers of educational materials distributed at the events. To track changes in residential pesticide-use practices, we will survey people at the waste collection events to measure pesticide and non-pesticide pest management practices and public awareness of integrated pest management as a risk reduction approach.
Activity 2
We will promote lower risk IPM-based pest management practices to the general public by providing current recommendations for preventing and managing common household, garden and lawn pests at garden shows and other public events. In addition we will also provide links to internet-based resources such as the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Pest Management Office website and other internet sites.
How does this activity reduce pesticide risk?
We anticipate this activity will reduce environmental risks of surface water, ground water and air pollution associated with lawn and garden pesticide use and disposal. We also anticipate a reduction in human and animal health risks due improved adoption of lower-risk pest management strategies by the general public.
How will you measure the risk reduction gained from this activity?
We will measure risk reduction by surveying visitors to our display table about their pesticide-use practices, knowledge of pesticide risks and awareness of IPM. We will also indirectly measure our impact by estimating the numbers of people reached at our various outreach events and by counting the number of hits to our website.
Activity 3
Networking to facilitate productive partnerships among agencies and organizations to promote increased adoption of IPM. We will meet with representatives from different organizations, including the Coalition of Lakes Associations, the Friends of Casco Bay, Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners, Department of Environmental Protection, and the Interlocal Stormwater Working Group to explore ideas for collaborative partnerships. This approach was used to develop working relationships leading to Activity 1 above. We anticipate meeting with representatives from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to discuss ideas for partnering for promoting increased IPM adoption in the agricultural sector. Each member of the IPM Council represents a different potential partnering organization thus presenting ample opportunity for continued development of productive collaborations.
How does this activity reduce pesticide risk?
We anticipate this activity will indirectly reduce risk by helping to facilitate the flow of timely information about current activities, projects and opportunities for increased adoption of IPM among a broad array of pesticide usages.
How will you measure the risk reduction gained from this activity?
Risk reduction can only be measured indirectly by tracking the numbers of new collaborative projects initiated by the Council.