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Bernadette Giblin is the owner of Safeground Organic Landcare
(SOL) in Northampton, Massachusetts. She is a 2004 graduate of Smith College and
in 2005 became a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional.
 Bernadette
began in the turf industry over 20 years ago as a lawn maintenance and snow
removal contractor. Her company has evolved to exclusively provide 100%
pesticide and petroleum free organic turf and garden fertilization and pest
management strategies to residential, institutional and commercial clients
regionally. As both a contractor and consultant, Bernadette transitions
landscapes to pesticide and petroleum free land management plans in accordance
with the company’s mission to protect people, pets and the planet.
Bernadette is featured in the documentary film, The
Truth About Cats, Dogs and Lawn Chemicals, premiering in the
Spring 2009. She sat on the Massachusetts Department of Water Conservation’s
Task Force for Pesticide Free Lawns and is a member of the North East Coalition
Against Pesticides (NECAP). In the summer of 2007, she participated in a press
conference put on by the Toxics Action Center that was instrumental in raising
public awareness of the dangers of pesticides on storm water quality which
resulted in MassHighway not spraying pesticides along 17 roadways in
Massachusetts. The No Spray policy remains in effect.
Bernadette speaks throughout the region educating citizens and
communities about the dangers of traditional lawn chemicals. Most recently she
spoke at a legislative session at the State House in Boston in support of the
Safe Alternative Bill. As the mother of three children, two of which are
learning disabled, Bernadette is a staunch advocate for chemical free school
grounds. She is currently collaborating with a national non-profit on the
development of greener landscape policy standards on institution grounds.
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“Dianne Doherty and her colleagues at the MSBDC in
Springfield
have been a wonderful support. Sometimes as a business owner you feel
alone. You're wearing all the hats all the time and you just need to
bounce ideas off of someone. You need information about resources
and you don't know what's out there and available to small business
owners. More importantly, you need someone you can trust in order to
determine the next steps to take. The folks at the MSBCD have provided
me with that kind of indispensable support that has helped my business
grow, change and thrive.The MSBDC is an asset to any small business in
these changing times.”
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