By Peggy McGrath

Go Green Oak Park asks residents of Oak Park to add their names to a petition, which calls upon our Board of Trustees to take bold measures toward eliminating the use of toxic products within the borders of our village.

There is a growing movement across the United States to adopt policies at the local level to reduce or prohibit pesticide use on private and public property. Numerous confirmed studies have linked pesticides to a wide range of health conditions in adults, and particularly in young children. Serious human health risks from lawn pesticide exposure include cancers, asthma, reproductive and hormone problems, neurological effects including learning disabilities, and Parkinson's Disease. This is now broadly understood to be a community health issue.

The moral challengeof our time arises because the natural world, and all species in it, are subject to countless toxic assaults. These arise from industrial human activity on a massive scale, grounded in the use of petrochemicals and fossil fuels. Please sign our petition, and help spread the word today.