NCAP is dedicated to

• Keeping the public informed about pesticide hazards and alternatives
  
• Promoting sustainable agricultural practices
• Working with concerned citizens to challenge unnecessary spray programs
• Ensuring the public’s participating in the development of public policy for pesticides
  
• Protecting our precious waters from pesticide contamination
• Fighting for the public's right to know all the ingredients in pesticide products
  
• Promoting pesticide use reduction

Public Education Program

Providing people with accurate, credible information about pesticide hazards and alternatives has long been a cornerstone of NCAP’s work. When groups and individuals around the world need a premier source of understandable, science-based information and technical assistance about pesticides, they turn to NCAP. We maintain a cataloged library with over 18,000 documents about pesticide hazards and alternatives. NCAP’s web site, which hosts over 243,000 visits a year, provides access to over 150 detailed fact sheets, reports, and other educational materials free-of-charge.

In 2004, our well-respected and exhaustively researched Journal of Pesticide Reform was nominated by Utne Reader for its Utne Independent Press Award for best science and technology coverage.

Healthier Homes and Gardens Campaign

Change begins at home. In 2004 , we launched an ambitious new campaign to reduce home and garden pesticide use by asking people to try pesticide-free solutions. Participants receive monthly email tips with pesticide-free solutions for common weed and pesticide problems. In addition they receive the number for NCAP’s toll-free hotline for easy access to NCAP’s expert staff and our high-quality information.

We distribute materials about the hazards of pesticides and offer pesticide-free solutions to thousands of people every year. Our goal is to engage 10,000 people in this exciting new program. Many Oregonians have signed up for this program when they find our information table at home and gardens shows and community events.

Clean Water for Salmon Campaign

New research shows that pesticides can harm salmon at very low levels and are contaminating the streams that salmon need to survive. NCAP has teamed up with Washington Toxics Coalition and other Pesticide-Free Partner organizations on its Clean Water for Salmon Campaign. We are building a broad-based, grassroots effort that will result in a wave of Pacific Northwest communities adopting salmon-friendly pest management policies and practices, such as the City of Portland’s new Pesticide-Free Parks program.

We recently won a legal victory that mandates ground-breaking protections for endangered salmon and requires that retail stores post prominent signs warning consumers about the potential harm of pesticide products to salmon.

Sustainable Agriculture Program

NCAP works to promote sustainable potato production, because potatoes are the most pesticide-intensive crop in the Northwest. To do this, NCAP collaborates with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and others in Idaho to implement alternative potato growing practices on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, the largest potato-growing area in Idaho. The project promotes practices to build healthy soils and control crop pests while reducing pesticide use.

NCAP also fosters the exchange of information on sustainable agriculture through farm tours, conferences, and other educational events. NCAP’s publication, The Farmer Exchange, features farmers who have successfully adopted alternative farming practices.

Inerts Disclosure Campaign

NCAP’s goal is to get full disclosure of all product ingredients on pesticide labels. Product labels currently identify the “active” ingredients, the ones that are intended to kill or otherwise damage a pest, but only indicate the percentage of the product that is “inert”. There are over 2,000 chemicals used as “inerts” in pesticide products and many of them are toxic to humans and the environment.