How the Garden Grows

Emily Sawaked ‘24

Students lounge and study on the lawn in front of the Barbara Walters Campus Center

Photo courtesy of Dana Maxson

The midmorning sun warmed the students’ skin as they lay on the grass, eyes closed, arms outstretched, lips curved into smiles. A little across the way, a landscaper worked in the garden, perspiration gathering on his forehead. It was the perfect day –– a more than adequate facade for the poison running deep through the roots of this campus.

Herbicide Free Campus, or HFC, a student-led organization, has been fighting for an alternative method to herbicides since their founding in March. Spearheaded by Leia Pfeffer ’23 and Kate Sabiston ’23, the group has been working as a subset of Green Rights Organization for the World, or GROW, to advocate for better climate education and sustainability on campus.

Though the new semester has been strenuous due to the pandemic preventing HFC members from being on campus to rally students and active participants , that has not stopped them or their movement toward a campus free from toxic herbicides.

“We actually had our first team meeting which was amazing because it produced so many different ideas,” Sabiston said. One such idea is an event on  Oct 29, in partnership with several other organizations on campus, as well as the Black Institute, a Black-led policy and organizing institution dedicated to aiding the local community and Black and immigrant families.

Like many other organizations at Sarah Lawrence adapting to new pandemic norms, HFC has had to take to the Internet to connect with peers. Virtual education has played a vital role in their movement, and their message for students who are concerned is clear: There is no cause for students to be overly concerned for their own health and safety with the use of herbicides on the lawn.

“You’re probably going to be okay,” Pfeffer assured.  “To our groundskeepers’ credit, they spray when students aren’t here. Students should be safe on the lawn.”

The threat of herbicides, however, lies in its dangers to the groundskeepers themselves and to the natural environment. According to Assistant Vice President of Facilities, Mo Gallagher, FLORA, the landscaping company contracted with the school, uses three main chemscaping technologies: Dimension, Speedzone, and glyphosate. Glyphosate in particular contributes to and affects hormone-dependent breast cancer and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer that starts in the circulatory and immune systems. Dimension has also been known to damage organs  and can be connected to risk for cancer, as reported by TurfCare’s Safety Data Sheet. 

Gallagher explained that Dimension and Speedzone are only used on the lawn once, the day after Thanksgiving, while the more noxious chemical, glyphosate, is applied to the pavement twice a year in the summertime, amounting to 30 ounces total per year. 

Gallagher also said that the groundskeepers use proper personal protective equipment while working, though Ani Adishian, the founder of FLORA, declined to comment.

Students themselves rarely come in contact with the products directly. But while the amounts of chemicals used may not be an issue, the long term effects of the repeated use are concerning.

Herbicides,which  kill off weeds at the root, soak into the soil. They also kill bacteria, fungus and macroinvertebrates, organisms lacking a spine visible to the naked eye, which suppresses plants’ ability to grow and take in nutrients. 

In addition to the harmful attacks of the plants themselves, poisoning the soil endangers insects , according to Managing Director of the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, Anne Jaffe Holmes. 

“When you poison insects and soil, you poison everything up the chain,” Holmes explained. “That's why we’re seeing a dramatic decline in the population of birds and insects, and cats too, wild cats and strays.” 

Though the problem of herbicides does not solely rest in Sarah Lawrence’s hands, the sheer size of the campus in comparison to the surrounding properties is striking. . Even though the college being small relative to other colleges and universities, its 42 acres far exceeds the 0.3 acres of an average Bronxville house. Furthermore, rainfall creates runoff with these hazardous chemicals.

“Herbicides and pesticides,especially in small bodies of water, will create algae blooms, which then will cause die offs [in aquatic life] because of the amount of phosphorus in them,” said Lukas Gates ’24, a first-year passionate about environmental sustainability. 

Because Sarah Lawrence College and the municipalities of Yonkers and Bronxville are on a hill, runoff courses down either side, affecting the local water systems, and, in the long run, the two larger bodies of water near the school — the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, as Gates stated. 

“We have to stop poisoning nature because we’re poisoning ourselves and our children,” said Holmes. “We’re trading our future survival for present convenience and aesthetic.” 

There is, though, a population far more at risk. Environmental racism, which increases the likelihood of racial minorities  to live in and be affected by pollution, is a prevalent issue in America. It is particularly prevalent in more urban areas where the majority of citizens tend to be lower income and racially diverse, according to the National Conference for Community and Justice, who reported that three out five African-Americans live in communities with uncontrolled toxic waste sites and that, “11.2% of African American children and 4% of Mexican-American children are poisoned by lead, compared with 2.3% of white children.” Sarah Lawrence, between Yonkers and Bronxville, lies between a wealthier neighborhood and lower income households, one of which is more likely to be negatively impacted by the chemicals. This, as Jasmine Joga ’24 puts it, is also a cause for outrage.

“We are directly responsible if they do a study and find out that people are getting sick [from the herbicide polluted water],” Joga said.  “And it worries me because if people don’t have money, don’t have access to healthcare, they are disproportionately being affected by this contamination of the water.”

Pfeffer and Sabiston give a number of ways to organically and safely remove weeds. They suggest steam, hot foam, and flame weeders, which Dr. Joe Neal, a professor in association with NC State Extension, reports effectively kill the weed seedlings, as well as organic substances, which, for some, Sabiston admits, is more of a preemptive measure. Their main solutions are hand weeding and natural biodiversity. 

“We want to plant native plants because that would help soil health,” Sabiston remarked. “By planting native plants that are well adapted to the climate, you would negate the need to spray.” 

As for the hand weeding, the pair have been pushing for a Weeding Day, where students would help groundskeepers do the job. Though there is no word on the day coming into fruition, the HFC team is hopeful. The Facilities and Operations staff, after talking with Pfeffer and Sabiston, is willing to listen. 

“I am open to hearing suggestions. FLORA is constantly reviewing what works best for our campus,” said Gallagher.

At a time that is so uncertain –– and with climate change intensifying at an increasingly distressing rate –– it is of many students’ opinions,  like Gates and Joga, that Sarah Lawrence, along with the rest of the county, must do its part to help the planet. As Holmes points out, appearances mean nothing in the face of survival.

“If the administration has the same ideals and goals as their student body,” Joga said, “I think it’s important for them to approach this in a timely manner.”

For students who are interested, Herbicide Free Campus are on Instagram at @hfcsarahlawrence. The moment to save the planet is now, and every small movement and initiative matters!