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PROGRAM NAME:
Green Shield Certified, Inc. |
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WHAT THIS LABEL MEANS:
The Green Shield Certified program for Structural Pest Management Services was created to evaluate pest control companies that use integrated pest management (IPM), an approach to dealing with pest problems that reduces or in some cases, eliminates, the use of pesticides by correcting the conditions that can lead to an infestation. IPM focuses on non-chemical methods to prevent pests; pesticides are used only when considered necessary, and in those cases, least-toxic pesticides are selected and measures taken to minimize exposure.
Green Shield Certified is operated by the IPM Institute of North America, a nonprofit organization recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for promoting integrated pest management. A number of health and environmental organizations support Green Shield Certified, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the New York Public Interest Research Group, the Breast Cancer Fund, and the Collaborative on Health and the Environment.
An entire pest control company can receive the Green Shield Certification, or it may only be awarded for a particular service or services offered by the company. Every company that receives certification – even those who offer only a specific qualifying service or services to be certified – must meet all minimum legal requirements (e.g. for truth in advertising or pesticide applicator training), pesticide safety requirements, and business requirements (e.g., properly licensed) for the entire company. While this particular certification only applies to companies that offer structural pest management services (e.g. commercial, institutional, residential or a mix of client types), facilities can also be certified under separate Green Shield Certified standards that have not been reviewed. (Note: Certification standards for landscape professionals and programs are currently under development.)
A day-long on-site inspection of each company applying for certification is required, which involves a review of reports and records, including those pertaining to inspections, monitoring, pesticide applications, training, and licensing, and a visual inspection of the pesticides storage area and company vehicles. An evaluator also accompanies and observes a technician of the company as they visit the site of a pest problem as part of their routine work for a client. The standards require that inspection (e.g. a diagnosis of the problem and its extent), monitoring, sanitation, measures to exclude pests, and correction of conducive conditions are the primary pest management strategies.
Pesticides may only be used once the pest has been accurately identified. The standards prohibit a number of undesirable practices, including routine or regularly scheduled applications, fogging (i.e. space sprays), sprays of residual-active pesticides to exposed interior or exterior surfaces, and use of dust formulations unless the site is sealed or otherwise enclosed after the application (except for stinging insect hives on exterior surfaces).
The standards also require practices that minimize pesticide exposure, especially to children, when using insecticide baits and rodenticides. Least-toxic pesticides must be used, and certain types of pesticides with known undesirable health effects (e.g. cancer, developmental or reproductive effects, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption), as well as pesticides that carry a “Danger” or “Warning” label (the Environmental Protection Agency’s designation for substances that are highly or moderately toxic) are prohibited with certain exceptions, which are agreed upon by the Technical Advisory Committee, an advisory body of IPM experts.
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ORGANIZATION NAME AND CONTACT INFO:
IPM Institute of North America
4510 Regent Street
Madison, Wisconsin
53705
Phone: 608-232-1426
Fax: 608-232-1440
URL: www.greenshieldcertified.org
Email Contact: info@greenshieldcertified.org
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ORGANIZATION SUMMARY:
HISTORY
The IPM Institute of North America was developed as an independent organization to promote integrated pest management, or IPM, an approach that relies on strategies to prevent pest problems and does not routinely use pesticides, and was incorporated in 1998.
The Green Shield Certified program is based on “IPM STAR”, an IPM certification program established in 2003 by the IPM Institute of North America and partially funded by the U.S. EPA to work on 10 school systems. Currently, more than 40 school systems nationwide have been certified under IPM STAR. Subsequently, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a non-profit national environmental advocacy group, and the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, which supports environmentally beneficial programs, provided a grant to the IPM Institute of North America to reduce urban pesticide use. The Green Shield Certified program began development in 2005, and was then launched in 2007.
FUNDING
The IPM Institute of North America is funded by grants, mostly from government, but also from private foundations and industry, and from contracts for its services, including for research, training, etc. The Green Shield program is funded by grants, such as from the Natural Resources Defense Council, and evaluation and certification fees.
STRUCTURE
The non-profit IPM Institute of America operates the program. The Institute’s Board of Directors includes experts in IPM from universities, government, and business. The program manager typically makes the final decisions regarding Green Shield Certified standards, although the Board of Directors has the final say if a conflict arises. The program is advised by a Technical Advisory Committee, comprised of experts from universities, non-profits, and industry.
ACCREDITOR
(not an accreditor)
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
James M. Cubie, former chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, and founder and former director of the Agricultural Conservation Innovation Center, Inc., now a project of American Farmland Trust
Thomas A. Green, President of IPM Works, Madison, WI, Founder of the IPM Institute of America, Director of the National Foundation for IPM Education
Barry Jacobsen, Professor of Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, and former National IPM Coordinator, USDA
Mr. Robert S. Kallen, President of RSK Strategies, LLC, Chicago, IL, providing expertise and capital to small growing companies in the food industry, and adjunct professor of economics at Roosevelt University, Chicago
Curtis H. Petzoldt, Assistant Director of the New York State IPM Program and Vegetable IPM Coordinator at Cornell University
James P. Tette, Former Director, New York State IPM Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
Luis Agurto, Sr., Founder and CEO of Pestec (certified by Green Shield Certified)
Thomas A. Green, PhD, President, IPM Institute of North America
Dawn H. Gouge, PhD, Associate professor and Associate Specialist, Department of Urban Entomology, University of Arizona
Jonathan Kaplan, Senior Policy Specialist at Natural Resources Defense Council
Jack Marlowe, President and Owner of Eden Advanced Pest Technologies (certified by Green Shield Certified)
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LABELS FROM THIS ORGANIZATION: |
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