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Table 5 Respondent* & household^ lawn care awareness and practices, City of Toronto, 2003-2009 Only households with lawns (n, %, 95% CI for key practices).

From: Municipal bylaw to reduce cosmetic/non-essential pesticide use on household lawns - a policy implementation evaluation

Lawn Care Awareness & Practices Gardening Season Totals
(n = 2726)
  2003
(n = 333) 		2004
(n = 289) 		2005
(n = 896) 		2006
(n = 479) 		2007
(n = 308) 		2008
(n = 421) 		 
Lawn care company applied pesticides^ †        
   Yes 49 (14.7%, 10.9 - 18.5) 40 (13.8%) 69 (7.7%) 18 (3.8%) 9 (2.9%) 19 (4.5%, 2.5 - 6.5) 204 (7.5%)
   No 18 (5.4%) 27 (9.3%) 86 (9.6%) 69 (14.4%) 52 (16.9%) 66 (15.7%) 318 (11.7%)
   Missing & Not Applicable 266 (79.9%) 222 (76.8%) 741 (82.7%) 392 (81.8%) 247 (80.2%) 336 (79.8%) 2204 (80.9%)
Household member applied pesticides^‡        
   Yes 82 (24.6%, 20.0 - 29.3) 58 (20.1%) 145 (16.2%) 83 (17.3%) 43 (14.0%) 47 (11.2%, 8.1 - 14.2) 458 (16.8%)
   No 229 (68.8%) 205 (70.9%) 708 (79.0%) 375 (78.3%) 248 (80.5%) 350 (83.1%) 2115 (77.6%)
   Missing & Not Applicable 22 (6.6%) 26 (9.0%) 43 (4.8%) 21 (4.4%) 17 (5.5%) 24 (5.7%) 153 (5.6%)
Aware of Natural Lawn Care Campaign*§(wgtd counts, wgtd%) NA NA (n = 977) (n = 531) (n = 344) (n = 456) (n = 2308)
   Yes    359 (36.8%) 210 (39.4%) 133 (38.8%) 172 (37.8%) 875 (37.9%)
   No    473 (48.4%) 300 (56.5%) 197 (57.3%) 269 (59.1%) 1239 (53.7%)
   Missing, Don't Know, Refused    145 (14.9%) 22 (4.1%) 14 (3.9%) 14 (3.1%) 195 (8.4%)
Lawn care company used natural lawn care methods^°        
   Yes 16 (4.8%, 2.5 - 7.1) 29 (10.0%) 67 (7.5%) 49 (10.2%) 32 (10.4%) 50 (11.9%, 8.8 - 15.0) 243 (8.9%)
   No 23 (6.9%) 21 (7.3%) 46 (5.1%) 19 (4.0%) 13 (4.2%) 17 (4.0%) 139 (5.1%)
   Missing & Not Applicable 294 (88.3%) 239 (82.7%) 783 (87.4%) 411 (85.8%) 263 (85.4%) 354 (84.1%) 2344 (86.0%)
Household member used natural lawn care methods^¶ NA       
   Yes   131 (45.3%, 39.6 - 51.1) 518 (57.8%) 290 (60.5%) 196 (63.6%) 279 (66.3%, 61.7 - 70.8) 1414 (51.9%)
   No   130 (45.0%) 333 (37.2%) 163 (34.0%) 97 (31.5%) 109 (25.9%) 832 (30.5%)
   Missing & Not Applicable   28 (9.7%) 45 (5.0%) 26 (5.4%) 15 (4.9%) 33 (7.8%) 480 (17.6%)
  1. † Question pbl_3 from Pesticides and Lawns Module in RRFSS. Did the lawn care company use any pesticides on your lawn to kill weeds or insects?
  2. ‡ Question pbl_8 from Pesticides and Lawns Module in RRFSS. There are also many commercial pesticides available off the shelf, such as Roundup, Killex and Weed and Feed, for HOME AND GARDEN use. Now some questions about these types of pesticides.
  3. If pbl_2 = 1 (if hired/paid a lawn care company)Besides the services provided by the lawn care company, so far this year*, have you or someone else in YOUR HOUSEHOLD used pesticides on your LAWN to get rid of weeds or insects?
  4. If pbl_2 = 5 (if not hired/paid a lawn care company]So far this year*, have YOU or someone else in YOUR HOUSEHOLD used pesticides on your LAWN to get rid of weeds or insects?
  5. § Question ng_1 from Pesticide Campaigns Module in RRFSS. Have you seen or heard ANYTHING about the Naturally Green Campaign in your community? The campaign includes lawn signs, brochures, and ads on the radio which encourage people to avoid pesticides and try pesticide free methods.
  6. ° Question pbl_7 from Pesticides and Lawns Module in RRFSS. [PBL_6 = No]Did they (the lawn care company) use any natural lawn care/pesticide-free methods?/[PBL_6 = Yes] And did they use it?
  7. ¶ Question pbl_10 from Pesticides and Lawns Module in RRFSS.
  8. If pbl_2 = 1 (if hired/paid a lawn care company) Besides the services provided by the lawn care company, have YOU or someone else in YOUR household used pesticide-free methods such as hand weeding or used products such as corn gluten on your lawn?
  9. If pbl_2 = 5 (If not hired/paid a lawn care company), So far this year*, have YOU or someone else in YOUR household used pesticide-free methods such as hand weeding or used products such as corn gluten on your lawn?
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Environmental Health

ISSN: 1476-069X