It was a beautiful New England morning as I headed out the door on my morning run. My headphones were in, iPod on, with the Black Eyed Peas telling me to Boom Boom Pow. After a few miles I was in the zone and feeling great. The grass all around was looking green and lush from all the recent rain. At some point during the run I glanced down and noticed small blue pellets sprinkled on the sidewalk. A little yellow sign was posted in the corner of a perfect little lawn which read “Keep Off-Pesticide Application”.
I was running through freshly spread lawn chemicals.
Ditch the Lawn Pesticides
Americans are obsessed with the quest for the perfect lawn and I will admit to having been a part of this fascination. It is hard to miss the aisles of fertilizers and other products promising to produce the perfect lawn. Unfortunately, a green lush lawn is about as unnatural a state for grass as possible. The “perfect lawn” is a futile pursuit, requiring applications of synthetic pesticides that are not only killing weeds and other naturally occurring plants, but are harmful to you and the environment. As I realized on my run, these toxins don’t stay on the lawn; they spread to our feet, hands, toys, wildlife and pets.
Over the past few years we have transitioned our yard to a chemical free zone. I can say with certainty that it is not the most beautiful yard in the hood; the color brown comes to mind. However, I love being able to let my kids and dog run around outside knowing our yard is a safe haven for them to play.
If only we could wave our magic wands and make all lawns toxin free-a cooperative effort to forgo chemical applications and let our lawns go wild. The pull towards the American Dream is strong; a dream of a detached house with a patch of green grass to call our own. My lawn and a few others are isolated patches of safe play spaces -but what about all the other places we go; friend’s backyards, baseball fields, parks-there is no way of knowing where our feet have traveled and what they have traveled through.
Take Your Shoes Off
In our house we are attempting to contain the toxin filled outdoors by declaring our home a “shoe free” zone. All shoes come off in the garage and they stay there until the next time we venture out. We try to remind our friends and family to honor our request for a shoeless house and we are grateful that everyone is very respectful. I have even been toying with the idea of posting a cute sign at the door reminding people to remove their shoes. We have found that making our home shoe free was a simple change in our lifestyle to keep some of the outdoor toxins from traveling into our living space. Perhaps one day pesticides will no longer be used on lawns, but until then let’s all try taking our shoes off. By doing this we are creating healthy home environments which protect our children and pets from toxic chemicals coming from the great outdoors.
Do you take your shoes off in the house?
photo credit: Day 264/365 – Red Shoe, Old Shoe, New Shoe, Something Something via photopin (license)
It’s such a simple thing, to take your shoes off inside, but it makes such a big difference. Visiting from the blog carnival.
Thanks for visiting Jessica. It really is so simple……
We have a shoe-free household but I frequently lose my nerve to ask people (now that our babies are no longer crawling). If you find a cute, tasteful sign, let me know!
Hi Heather-I am on the hunt for a sign and will let you know if I am successful. There must be one out there that is not offensive. I too lose my nerve once in a while-it can be very uncomfortable!!
We’re moving soon and our baby is just a few months away from crawling. I was thinking of making a sign that simply says, “Baby playing on floor – please remove your shoes. Thank you!”
I love that! Then once the baby is walking we can change it to read “Children playing on floor-…….” and ultimately it can say “Family playing on the floor-….”. Do you think that would work?
We’ve been doing the “shoes off” thing for a couple years now and I can’t imagine living any other way. I’m so programmed to do it that I now feel weird going into someone else’s house and NOT taking off my shoes!
I agree-it would feel weird. My kids are trained too……sometimes their shoes come off when they shouldn’t-in a museum, restaurant-we’ll have to work on that!
Important for kids and pets too! My dog is blind and our vet wonders if he was exposed to some pesticide at some point and it caused neurological damage.
I love this! I have no garage but will have to figure out a system for the front & back doors!! Thanks for sharing as this has never come to mind…
(found your blog from Healthy Child FB page)
Taking my shoes off is something i have always done. I used to complain about it growing up, but now I have my own family and home i can see the absolute sense it it. Its automatic for us all to take our shoes off.
I had to smile at the last comment. I find it weird to leave shoes on now too and my boys in particular take their shoes off immediately as soon as we walk through the door (and up until recently this would be inappropriate places as well!). 🙂 Now I just need to teach them to go through the door and to the side, not plop down in the middle of the doorway!
A quick search on etsy came up with a bunch of “Please remove your shoes” signs of varying aesthetics and phrases.
It’s hard to know when it’s best to ask visitors to remove shoes. When they first come in you want to greet them. Before I know it it’s late and awkward. I think I need a sign too.
We are a no shoe household as well. It’s hard to ask people to take off shoes but I find that most people see that we don’t wear shoes and then ask if they should take theirs off, too. I always say ‘yes, please’!
that works for me too….wait until they ask!
yes, we will find a sign!
we have a big pile of shoes too that i end up kicking to the side as i walk by…..guess i will have to work on that too. i will have to check out etsy signs…… thanks for the good idea!
Thanks Heather. Let me know how it goes!
yes, it is just as important for pets. I would love to say that i wipe our dogs feet every time she comes in…..
We have been shoe free for years now and I can’t imagine going back to wearing shoes in the house. We either take our shoes off on the front porch or in the garage depending on which way we enter the house. We just have piles by the door but it leaves a good indication for guests to ditch their shoes. When my kids have friends over I just tell them “take your shoes off it is a house rule” Other guests will often do it on their own but if not I will simply say “oh by the way could you leave your shoes here we do the japanese thing and walk around in socks.”
I can certainly relate to the piles by the door!
Thank you!
what is your site?
It is so common in our world I have friends who bring slippers to house parties. Trying to think of how to make it easier for those who are older (bending) or cold footed – maybe a basket of shoe covers or slippers by the guest door????
Our sign reads “Life is made of many choices. Take your shoes off at the door or mop the floor” 🙂
I like the basket of slippers idea Angela. Our house is always cold so a shoe alternative is needed!
What a great sign Heather! I might have to copy you 🙂