District will explore and evaluate use of organic weed products
Earlier this week, Naperville Park District staff and board members received a petition regarding its use of Roundup for weed control in its playgrounds.
The District acknowledges that public health and safety supersede any other concern. As a result, the Park District will temporarily suspend the use of Roundup in its playground areas in order to experiment with and evaluate organic weed control products. Staff has used organic products previously, but only with limited success.
It is important to note that the District has been using Roundup very infrequently and only as needed. Additionally, application of the product has been accomplished in a prudent and selective manner by trained and licensed staff, thereby ensuring responsible and limited use.
Hand-pulling of weeds, while a reasonable undertaking in one’s own yard, becomes a monumental task when you consider the 73 playgrounds across the District within 2,400 acres of park land. Additionally, this practice is not always effective as hand-pulling disturbs dormant seeds, which ends up creating exponentially more weeds. And weeds themselves can pose a threat to the health of some individuals who suffer from asthma and allergies.
During this time of experiment and evaluation, the playground areas may begin to look different with potentially more weeds than normal encroaching into these spaces. We ask our residents to be understanding as we explore possible acceptable alternatives to weed control.
