Our Mission

Founded in 2016, Non Toxic Communities supports efforts to eliminate toxic chemicals to protect public health and the environment, by providing access to education and resources needed to adopt organic landscaping practices locally.

First met in 2015 while working for organic policies in our respective cities and officially launched as NTC in 2016 to fill the need for support in grassroots campaigns for local pesticide reform.

Are your friends and neighbors who care about protecting public health and the environment from the effects of toxic pesticide use.

Advocate for organic lawn and land care in our neighborhoods, parks and schools.

Have played an integral role in implementing successful policies in our own municipalities.

Believe that all communities have the right to be healthy. This means clean air, clean water and an environment free from toxic chemicals.

Help citizens advocate for public health where they live.

Hope that our experience can help and inspire you to create your own non toxic community.

Are here to give you the support and resources you need to get started on making changes in your HOA, school, city, and community.

Our Board

Diana Carpinone 
President and ​Co-Founder

Diana is the mother of one active young man and the founder of Non Toxic Dover NH.  She has been working with her municipality to eliminate toxic pesticides from city spaces since 2013.  Diana enjoys nature, gardening, reading, writing, and learning about the diverse scientific issues related to human and environmental health.  She is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP), and a dedicated advocate for safer alternatives to toxic pesticide use. Diana is enthusiastic about promoting an organic soil-based approach for managing landscapes, educating about the importance of native plant restoration to reverse biodiversity loss, and how local actions can make a real difference with urgent global public health and environmental problems.  She is working on being a part of the solution by making change on the national level with Non Toxic Communities.

Vanessa Armstrong
Treasurer & VP

Vanessa has been advocating to reduce and eliminate synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in her community since 2010. Her vision is to create social change towards a healthier future for our children and planet by creating awareness, legislative action, and market shifts. Vanessa is an Orange County, CA native and founder of Non Toxic Costa Mesa, where she initiated the passing of an Organics First ordinance. Vanessa works with the national leading expert in organic landscapes to help facilitate municipalities transition from conventional to organic landscape practices. Her belief is healing the soil with organic practices will have a positive impact on human and environmental health. Vanessa has a Bachelor of Science in Business from California State University, Long Beach, a Permaculture Design Certificate from The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano and is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP).

Amanda Plunkett 
​Secretary

Ayn Craciun
​At Large

Amanda is the founder of Bee Rooted, a company dedicated to advocating for healthy environments. As an Environmental Illness survivor, she feels she has a special relationship with bees as they too are sensitive to minuscule environmental changes. She uses her experience to spread awareness for healthier environments, and naturally care for pollinators. She has an Organic Lawn Care Accredited Professional Certification, is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP) and plans to use her knowledge to educate municipalities, business owners and citizens about caring for properties without toxic chemicals. Amanda also has experience as a public speaker, and hosting educational workshops. She is enthusiastic about using her skills to educate public and private entities about sustainable landscaping practices on behalf of Non Toxic Communities.

Ayn is a policy advocate for the Climate Action Campaign. She, along with our co-founder and advisor Kathleen Hallal, was a founding board member of Non Toxic Irvine, a group who successfully advocated for the City of Irvine's adoption of an organic landscaping policy to bring an end to Irvine's use of fossil fuel-based pesticides. Ayn began her journey as an environmental advocate in 2015 after she learned that three children in her Irvine neighborhood of 1,700 homes had been diagnosed with brain tumors. Ayn is focused on facilitating the adoption of Zero Carbon Action and Adaptation plans and growing city participation in Orange County's first ever community choice energy program - the OC Power Authority. She brings this experience to Non Toxic Communities where she once again is advocating for organic land care practices to protect public health and as a solution to climate change. 

Rika Gopinath
​At Large

Rika is the steering committee co-chair for MOMS Advocating Sustainability. Rika is an experienced business development executive and an advocate who built strategic partnerships for Kaplan’s Educational Divisions for many years spanning both consumer and professional education offerings. After the birth of her first child, Rika turned her passion, experience, and energy to educating moms and families about the awareness of chemicals we are exposed to on a day-day basis through the food we eat and the environment we live in. Rika has also helped lead the efforts to partner with the Community Media Center of Marin to broadcast Modern MOMS Health Forums on Marin’s Community TV station and to bring MOMAS’s content to the web. She received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and was a competitive debater.

Alison Reintjes
At Large

Alison is inspired by the generous and persistent efforts of advocates both past and present. She believes that in the face of biodiversity loss, climate change, and human health concerns we all need to find our own path of action for changing our communities and local policy. Alison is a full-time ceramic artist, a mother, and founder of Grow Safe: Non-Toxic Missoula, the only Montana organization working to reduce municipal pesticide use. Alison began her advocacy for safe and healthy outdoor spaces in 2017 after reacting to pesticides used on a neighbor’s lawn and a nearby park. This helped her understand that pesticides have health consequences for everyone. Alison dedicates herself to grassroots change in her own community and supports national efforts through Non Toxic Communities. She is happiest outdoors– hiking, xcountry skiing, or backpacking.

Michelle Schumacher
​At Large

Michelle enjoys her family, reading, gardening, and engaging on important issues of health and environmental matters within her community.  Michelle is the founder of Non Toxic San Clemente and worked with the City of San Clemente to eliminate toxic pesticides being sprayed on City property and parks.  She also served in Orange County Vector Control for several years to try to bring awareness of less toxic methods for mosquito control at the county level and had the organization change from a fear based public outreach model to an educational approach that encourages every resident to do their part.  She is a taxpayer advocate and dedicated to advancing healthy environmental landscape practices, protection to open space and restoring health to ecosystems.  

Our Advisors

M. Tom Carrasco
​Advisor

Jeff Cordulack 
​Advisor

M. Tom Carrasco grew up in the Salinas Valley, one of the worlds richest agricultural areas. As a third generation of the green industry, he learned from his father about sustainability. Tom has a degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). He has nearly 20 years of experience and has developed agronomic programs focused on IPM and organic land management, taught turfgrass management at National University in San Diego, and is an experienced arborist. His company MTC Horticulture, consults with landscapers, HOAs, as well as cities. Tom and his wife have 7 children, enjoy an outdoor lifestyle, and compete in triathlons together. Tom’s love of nature and desire to hand down a healthy world to future generations drives his passion to help make organic land care practices the standard in our communities. Tom brings a deep understanding of soil science, landscape operations, landscape maintenance finance, and public speaking to our advisory board.

Jeff Cordulack is a Connecticut native whose career has focused on wildlife conservation, watershed protection, organic farming & landscaping, and a variety of sustainability/green living subjects.  He earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Natural Resources Management and Conservation Biology from Colorado State University and has traveled widely in the US, Mexico, Belize, and Southern Africa. He is owner of Organic Ways & Means, was the Executive Director of CT NOFA: The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut, and worked for the National Audubon Society for a decade before that. Jeff has taught thousands of people about nature and how to protect Earth’s biodiversity through simple everyday actions, innovation, and conservation planning. When not on the road promoting organics, Jeff can be found in the garden, tending to chili peppers, kale, and raspberries.

Kathleen Hallal
Advisor and ​Co-Founder 

Chris Kassotis, PhD 
​Advisor

Kathleen is a mother to three boys. When her children were struck by autoimmune issues she became aware of the dangers that exposures to toxic chemicals pose in our children’s environment. For many years, Kathleen has been doing her part to encourage communities to eliminate children’s exposure to toxic pesticides on school grounds and in parks. With the help of scientists and medical professionals, she led the movement in Irvine, CA by starting with the schools, and then working with a group to approach the city. Kathleen is a founding member of Non Toxic Communities, an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP) and served as Advisor for Climate and the Environment on the Irvine Mayor’s Council. She now works in the private sector, helping more districts, cities, and homeowner’s associations adopt organic landscaping methods, and continues to support Non Toxic Communities in an advisory role.

Dr. Chris Kassotis is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and Department of Pharmacology at Wayne State University in Detroit. Chris completed his Ph.D. in Endocrinology at the University of Missouri, where he worked to characterize the endocrine disrupting chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and potential impacts on human/animal health. After graduation, Chris completed a postdoc in Environmental Toxicology at Duke University. His overall interest is in characterizing the role of chemical mixtures (and novel endocrine disruptors) on human health outcomes through a range of research grants and projects. Current projects include assessing metabolic health effects of common surfactants used in detergents and hard surface cleaners as well as assessing potential mixture effects of complex environmental mixtures.

Michael E. Kolenut
​Advisor

Michael Kolenut started Lincoln Landscaping in 1974. Environmental stewardship and learning how to manage the landscape has long been a passion of his. With friends and organic mentors Chip Osborne and Barry Draycott; Mike began a journey starting with a cross country mission to take every worthwhile class at colleges throughout the country and countless workshops with the top educators in the field. Mike's passion has taken him into athletic field management, where in organics we term them “Playing Fields” ever reminding us that children are playing on these fields and every precaution should be taken to insure their safety. Lincoln Landscaping offers seminars, classes, personal training, staff training, consultations, team building, and work shops, learning the basics of soil biology and the process necessary to be a successful Land Care operator as well as teaching of organic gardening covering a number of topics including organic kitchen gardens, raised beds, irrigation, the art of composting, vermiculture (worm composting) and organic soils and amendments. A NOFA Organic Land Care Accredited Professional (AOLCP), and Accredited Organic Lawn Care Professional (OLCAP), Mike has the distinct honor to teach a leg of the New Jersey Organic Land Care program at Rutgers University to other landscapers who are trying to learn a better way to serve their clients.

Brittany Cooper Phillips 
​Advisor

Richard McCoy
​Advisor

Richard is a member of the Rutgers Organic Land Care Working Group and co-contributor of the Rutgers Organic Land Care Best Management Practices Manual and has a reoccurring role as an educator for the Rutgers Organic Land Care Certificate Course. 
Additionally, he holds a Certificate of Organic Land Care through the Rutgers Organic Land Care Program. Richard is an Advisor to the Organic Landscape Association (OLA), a Certified Natural Turf and Landscape Manager, a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP), an Organic Lawn Care Accredited Professional (OLCAP). Also, he is an American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA) Certified Service Pro; moreover, McCoy Horticultural has the distinction of being New Jersey’s first AGZA Certified Company. Richard has acted on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Organic Land Care Association (NJOLA). He has contributed writing to Organic Gardens Today Magazine. Currently, his writing supports Ecology Matters the McCoy Horticultural Blog, and he is a member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance Speakers Bureau. Richard hopes to raise public awareness of organic, ecological land care, battery-powered landscape equipment, and their benefits through his work, public speaking, and collaborations.
​

Christina Shea 
​Advisor

Britt Phillips is an organic lawn and land care professional who works with home owners, businesses, and organizations to build and maintain healthy, safe lawns naturally. She has worked in all aspects of the landscape industry and has been focusing on organic lawn and landscape strategies since 2009. She has a passion for soil regeneration as it applies to the care of lawns and pastures. Britt is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP) and also and advisor to the Organic Landscape Association. She is an experienced public speaker, and her passion is to remove pesticides and synthetic fertilizers from the land. She works to educate property owners and managers so they can make better and more informed decisions on how to manage their land and lawns.

Christina Shea is an independent business consultant and realtor.
​As a City Councilor, in 2016 she brought forward a proposal to make Irvine one of the first cities in the U.S. to use only organic pesticide abatement practices in its local parks, green belts, and open spaces. In her time as Mayor, she served as a member of the IUSD Liaison Committee, a Board member of the Director of the Transportation Corridor Agencies, and the Board member of the Irvine Community Land Trust. Christina has been named one of Orange County’s “Leaders of the Year” by the California Women’s Leadership Association and featured as one of the “Most Influential Women in Orange County” by the Orange County Metro Magazine. In 2008, she was recognized by Assemblyman Chuck DeVore to be the Woman of the Year for the 70th Assembly District.

Dr. Bruce Taylor, M.D. 
​Advisor

Dr. Bruce Taylor, a former professor and chair of the Dept. of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Intensive Care at Driscoll Children's Hospital, Corpus Christi, is board-certified in pediatrics and anesthesiology and has held a fellowship in genetics and metabolism at the Univ. of TX Health Science Center at Houston.  At Boston Children's Hospital, he also did a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology.  Semi-retired, he teaches at the Univ. of New England and Univ. of Southern Maine. Dr. Taylor has a special interest in the environmental etiology of disease and is a member of the Toxics Committee of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Maine Chapter, as well as a Town of Sweden selectman.

Our co-founder Kathleen Hallal is honored for her advocacy on the City of Irvine Wall of Recognition in organically maintained Bill Barber Park. The plaque was presented by the Mayor at the time, Christina Shea, a Non Toxic Communities advisor who worked with Kathleen, Ayn Craciun and other community volunteers to bring forward a motion to update the City's IPM program in 2016. The CDPR recognized the success of Irvine's organic IPM in early 2020 with an IPM Achievement Award.

Our Partners

Our Projects

Press

We wish to thank the people whose hard work and assistance have helped to make our website and the resources on it possible: Allison of Allison Davis Creative for donating her graphic design skills, and Amanda of Bee Rooted for website build and design. Special thanks to Jessica, Leo, Michelle and Tara for their support.