RED BANK - The borough made another stride toward "going green" by passing a resolution adopting integrated pest management (IPM) as the borough's pest control policy at the Oct. 8 council meeting.

IPM means that borough contractors will use nontoxic methods to prevent pest damage on borough-owned properties, specifically the parks, according to Environmental Commission (EC) member Laura Bagwell.

"This resolution is the next big step on getting as much of our public lands to be as pesticide free as we can, particularly those places to be used for recreation and those places close to our waterways," said Red Bank Councilwoman Mary-Grace Cangemi, who is the council liaison to the EC.

The EC has been working with the New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF) on endeavors like using IPM in the borough since the summer.

NJEF director and Red Bank resident Amy Goldsmith made a presentation in July outlining three major ways for the borough to conserve energy and become more environmentally conscious.

"We want to encourage public institutions to use greener products," said Goldsmith. Among her suggestions to the commission were to establish pesticidefree zones, institute green cleaning and for the borough to participate in "Idle Free New Jersey."

"The idea is, turn your car off after 10 seconds, don't warm up for more than 30 seconds," said Goldsmith. "If a car idles for 10 minutes, it is equivalent to driving five miles," said Goldsmith.

The borough's resolution states that scientific studies have linked exposure to pesticides with asthma, cancer, developmental and learning disabilities, nerve and immune system damage, liver or kidney damage, reproductive impairment, birth defects and disruption of the endocrine system.

"Basically pesticides are poisonous chemicals designed to kill plants, animals, insects you don't want," said Bagwell, who was the point person from the EC for the IPM resolution.

She said these pesticides can be toxic, and if applied to the lawn and children play on it, the children could become ill.

Bagwell added, "Pesticides can run into rivers and disrupt the ecological balance of the water."

Bagwell also said pets can track pesticides from the lawn into the house and become ill that way.

She said IPM is a more cost-effective and safer alternative to the current use of chemical pesticides in the borough.

"It's a common-sense thing to explore alternatives that would be safer for the community," said Bagwell.

Cangemi demonstrated her support for the new resolution during Candidate's Night at the Westside Community Group meeting Oct. 10.

"What is exciting about being the liaison to the environmental commission is that our parks now have gone pesticide free, so we're going to continue to maintain our parks in a more ecologically sound manner," said Cangemi.

The EC's presence was also felt at the meeting, where members were giving away energy-efficient light bulbs for free to those in attendance.

"It's not going to cost the town more money to do these things," said Goldsmith of her previous suggestions. "It's if they [the borough] want to switch out to do these things."

Also included in the borough's resolution is that certain public properties will be designated as "pesticide-free zones" and there will be a sign posted at these areas to show that chemical pesticides have not been used at those sites.