- Carrboro, North Carolina, is killing weeds with water
instead of chemicals. The town is using a machine that superheats water
and dispenses it in a carefully controlled stream to kill weeds without
using toxic chemical herbicides. The equipment, which is made in New
Zealand,
is in use in several other countries but is almost unknown in the United
States.
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- Carrboro is testing the equipment to implement the town's
least toxic Integrated Pest Management policy, adopted in March 1999. The
policy calls for phasing out use of conventional pesticides, including
herbicides, on town property, but does not apply to the local residents,
their property or businesses. City leaders hope to show how beautiful
grounds
can be achieved without poisoning the environment.
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- To date, efforts to reduce pesticide use have emphasized
alternatives to conventional herbicides. An earlier analysis of Carrboro's
pest management practices showed that more pesticides were used on weeds
than for any other purpose. Weeds are a problem around buildings and
parking
lots, along curbs and gutters and in parks. The town is using a
comprehensive
approach, rather seeking a single solution, including a biodegradable
herbicide
made from corn gluten, propane flamers which kill plants by singing them,
thick mulch on plant beds to smother weeds, and now hot water.
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- The machine in use in Carrboro produces a steady stream
of near- boiling water that kills weeds by melting the waxy outer coating
of their leaves. The self-contained machine is mounted on a small truck
with hoses connected to long-handled applicator wands. A quick spray on
unwanted weeds kills them; the plants darken almost immediately and turn
brown within a few hours. The flow of water is low and cools quickly. While
the results look very much like that of a contact herbicide, there is no
toxic residue and the area is immediately safe for play.
-
- "That's what it is all about," said Allen
Spalt,
Director of the Agricultural Resources Center and a member of the Carrboro
Board of Aldermen. "We want to find ways to reduce pesticide use so
that we can eliminate the risk of any child being poisoned. Carrboro
already
uses only small amounts of pesticides; we believe that this hot water
system
may be part of the solution to reducing use completely."
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- The hot water system, on loan to Carrboro until the end
of June, will be used by town staff, who will also demonstrate it for other
interested parties. At the conclusion of the trials, a final decision will
be made whether or not the town will purchase the equipment.
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- Source/contact:
Allen Spalt, Director
Agricultural Resources Center
PESTicide EDucation project
15 West Main Street
Carrboro, North Carolina 27510
phone (919) 967-1886
fax (919) 933-4465
email: aspalt@mindspring.com
Web site http://metalab.unc.edu/arc
- ___
-
- Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)
- 49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102
USA
- Phone: (415) 981-1771
- Fax: (415) 981-1991
- Email: panna@panna.org
- Web: www.panna.org
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