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Evanston Passes Integrated Pest Management Ordinance
On April 26th, the City of Evanston City Council passed a Sustainable Pest Control and Pesticide Reduction Policy, the first municipal legislation in Illinois that limitspesticide applications on city owned property. The result of over a year’s worth of work by SPCP and the EvanstonEnvironment Board, it prohibits the City from using certain hazardous and toxic classes of pesticides. The policy effectively eliminates pesticide use completely after two years unless granted an exemption or used for health related purposes such as drinking water treatment.
Evanston’s new policy “acknowledges that many pesticides are simply unnecessary, pose significant health concerns, and impact our environment,” said Rachel Rosenberg, Executive Director. “Limiting pesticide use and preventing exposure are best practices for any city, and there are effective alternatives that do not involve poisons.”
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SPCP Named a City of Chicago Delegate Agency
 SPCP was named as one of
Chicago’s newest delegate
agencies in January. SPCP will
provide training, education,
and outreach services on bed
bugs to over 175 agencies in
Chicago. SPCP has created
a quarterly newsletter called
B.I.T.E. (Bed Bug Information
That Empowers) Back that is
distributed to all delegate agencies to
keep them up to date on the latest bed bug information.
SPCP will be training Chicago citizens to help them
become educated about the safest and most effective ways
to prevent and manage bed bug infestations.
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Natural Lawn Care Program
SPCP trained City of Chicago employees on Natural
Turf Management in partnership with the Chicago
Department of Environment. The training provided
an overview on the principles as well as case studies
highlighting successes in other Midwestern cities.
SPCP Sr. Program Associate Steve Pincuspy and Chip
Osborne of Osborne Organics recently reviewed the
Chicago Park District’s landscape specifications. The
revisions resulting from this partnership will ensure that
natural turf management is a prominent component of
future landscape contracts at Grant Park.
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 Beating Back Bed Bugs Seminars Are a Hit
Our most recent “Beating Back Bed Bugs”
seminars were a big hit in Chicago, Madison,
and Milwaukee. We plan on bringing our unique
training to Los Angeles and San Francisco in
partnership with two non-profits, Physicians
for Social Responsibilty and Californians for
Pesticide Reform.
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 A Chemical Reaction
The March 27th Chicago
premiere of “A Chemical
Reaction” at Columbia College
generated a lot of enthusiasm
and interest in promoting this
film throughout the Midwest.
“A Chemical Reaction” profiles
the success of Hudson, Quebec
residents in banning lawn and
garden pesticides throughout
their community. Their actions
set off a chain of high-profile
court cases that culminated in
Hudson’s win in the Canadian
Supreme Court in 2001.
Other screenings of the movie are being organized around
the Chicago area. You can order the film at safelawns.org to
view yourself or with friends, or you can organize a showing
at your local library, community center, or school.
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News from Springfield
 A recent bill (HB6439) was passed in Springfield creating an
Illinois Bed Bugs Task force as a subcommittee
of the Structural Pest Control Advisory
Council. The goal of the group is to
create a report with recommendations
on the prevention, management,
and control of bed bugs. Rachel
Rosenberg, Executive Director
of SPCP, was recently appointed
by the Governor to sit on the
Structural Pest Control Advisory
Council and will be participating in
this task force.
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Save the Date
 Plan to join us for the 4th annual
Ladybug Bash on Friday, October
8th at Evanston’s SPACE for an
evening of music, food, and a great
silent auction. We are looking for volunteers to help us
plan this year’s event. If you are interested in being on our
Special Event Committee, contact Kim Stone at kstone@spcpweb.org or (773) 878-7378 x 205.
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Welcome to New Members of SPCP’s Board of Directors
 Katie Coleman has a
background in print and
online communications for
environmental issues. She is
currently a grant writer for the
Environmental Law & Policy
Center, a regional environmental
advocacy organization based
in Chicago. Katie worked
previously as the editor of EJ Magazine at Michigan
State University’s Knight Center for Environmental
Journalism. She earned a Masters Degree in
Environmental Journalism from Michigan State
University and a degree in English from Illinois
Wesleyan University.
 Jennifer Farley is an
Environmental Risk Consultant
for Wells Fargo Bank. In this
role, Jenne uses her interest
and expertise to monitor
environmental due diligence
on loans. Prior to joining
Wells Fargo, she worked as an
Environmental Analyst for the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health and
received a Masters Degree from Clark University in
Environmental Science and Policy. Highly active in
all matters green, when not encouraging others in her
green endeavors, you can find her playing her cello or
flute in a local ensemble or walking her dog.
 Betsy Neumann is the owner of
Clean Air Lawn Care, located
in Evanston. Clean Air Lawn
Care is a sustainable lawn care
company dedicated to promoting
clean energy and natural lawn
care solutions. After graduating
from Butler University with a
degree in Public and Corporate
Communications, she spent the early part of her
career helping run and grow a family owned garden
center/nursery. She will share her passion for
community involvement along with her expertise on volunteers and fundraising with SPCP.
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