Thanks for joining us for the Organic Land Care Annual Gathering.

To see the recorded videos from this gathering CLICK HERE

Schedule

• 12:00-12:30: “Introduction/Update On The Organic Land Care Program” with Dina Brewster, Monique Bosch, and Jeremy Pelletier
• 12:30-1:45 National Trends In Organic Landscaping And How COVID-19 Has Changed The Industry” with Chip Osborne
• 1:45-2:30: “Municipal Ordinances: What’s Happening And How To Get Started” Ordinances with Troy Moon
• 2:30-2:45: Break
• 2:45-3:45: “The Ecotype Project: Rewilding The Urban Landscape” with Ed Toth
• 3:45-4:00: “Pollinator Pathway Update” with Mary Ellen Lemay
• 4:00-5:00: “From Gas to Electric: How to Make it Work?” with Jamie Banks and Dan Mabe
• 5:00-5:30: Happy Half Hour and Discussion

Speakers

Chip Osborne, Osborne Organics

Charles “Chip” Osborne, Jr., President of Osborne Organics, LLC, and Founder of the Organic Landscape Association has over 10 years of experience in creating safe, sustainable, and healthy athletic fields and landscapes through natural turf management and 35 years experience as a professional horticulturist. As a wholesale and retail nurseryman, he has first-hand experience with the pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides routinely used in the landscape and horticultural industry. Personal experience led him to believe there must be a safer way to grow plants. His personal investigation, the study of conventional and organic soil science practices, and hands-on experimentation led him to become one of the country’s leading experts on growing sustainable, natural turf.

Along the path to greening his own industry practices, Chip became a regular lecturer for the Northeast Organic Farming Association, a board member of Beyond Pesticides, Chairman of the Marblehead, Massachusetts’ Recreation and Parks Department, and speaker nationwide on the topic of turf management for athletic fields and landscapes. He speaks to a wide audience of sports field professionals, state and municipal agencies, and community groups. In 1998 Chip and Pat Beckett, co-founded The Living Lawn Project in Marblehead, MA, one of the country’s first natural lawn demonstration sites. It is a nationally-recognized, living example that beautiful, healthy grass can be grown without the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.  He remains a dedicated environmental activist speaker for communities wanting to learn about why and how to change their town policies.

Troy Moon, Sustainability Coordinator of the City of Portland, Maine

Troy Moon is the Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Portland. Troy started his career with the City of Portland in January 1997 in the Department of Public Works working on improvements to the solid waste program. One of his first was helping to implement the curbside recycling and “pay as you throw” trash collection programs that began in 1999. During his time in Public Works, he managed several programs including Solid Waste, Parks and Open Spaces, and Island Services but sustainability was always an important aspect of his work. This included promoting waste reduction and recycling, supporting community gardens, reducing pesticide use on City property, and climate action. Troy worked with interns on the City’s first greenhouse gas inventories in 2001 and 2005 and collaborated with a team of City and School staff to draft the Municipal Climate Action Plan in 2008.

In 2016, Troy moved to the Executive Department and took on the role of Sustainability Coordinator. This has allowed him to focus attention on some high-impact projects that advance the sustainability goals established by the City Council — reducing the City’s greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050 and running the City on 100% clean energy by 2040. A few recent projects include overseeing the distribution of recycling carts to residents, managing construction of the Ocean Avenue Solar Array, and managing the conversion of the City’s streetlights to LED. Starting in early 2019, he is excited to be co-leading a climate action planning process with his colleague Julie Rosenbach, Sustainability Director in South Portland. Their goal will be to develop a strategy to keep our communities vibrant and livable in the face of rising seas and a changing climate.

Edward Toth, Director of New York’s Greenbelt Native Plant Center

Edward Toth has worked for the New York City Department of Parks since 1985. He is the founding director of the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, a program of the Forestry, Horticulture, and Natural Resources Division of NYC Parks. The 13-acre nursery, greenhouse, seed increase, and seed bank facility is the nation’s oldest and largest municipally-owned native plant nursery in the U.S. In 2012 he initiated the Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank (MARSB), as a regional partner of the national Seeds of Success program. He was a 2018 recipient of the Sloan Public Service Award from the Fund for the City of New York. He is currently a member of the Committee on an Assessment of Native Seed Needs and Capacities of the National Academy of Sciences.

Edward’s work has been featured in the New York Times

Dr. Jamie Banks, Ph.D., MS, Founder and Executive Director of Quiet Communities

Dan Mabe, American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA)