Ginger Souders-Mason

Ginger Souders-Mason, a retired medical technologist, graduated from EFM Class #9, served three terms as EFM president, and became an honorary lifetime member in 2000. Her leadership has continued through battles against the spraying of toxic chemicals.

"I started my EFM training when we had our second child. As a parent, I felt obligated to leave this place a little better than I found it," Souders-Mason says. "I was always very interested in the environment. EFM opened doors -- it taught me which people I could go to in order to get things done. It teaches you how to be nice and all, but not to get intimidated. To remember how important your mission is. To feel comfortable going forward without fear."

And go forward she did. With Suzanne Cooper and Barbara Perlman-Whyman, Souders-Mason was a prominent organizer of the 20th Earth Day celebration in April 1990. That event, held on the Dominican University campus, grossed more than $22,000.

The Marin Community Foundation matched funds to set up and administer the Earth Day Every Day Fund, which provided small grants ($500 or less) to individuals, schools, and other organizations for environmental activities. For a decade and a half, the Earth Day Every Day Fund put $10,000 back into the community each year.

Many of the grants were used to help set up school gardens -- "And one even allowed a San Anselmo boy to expand his chicken coop so he would have more fresh eggs to give to his neighbors," Souders-Mason says with a laugh.

Taking On a Toxic World

Souders-Mason didn't stop there; she got involved with the Health Council of Marin in the early 1990s, the time when the high incidence of breast cancer was coming to light. That led her to a spot on the Marin Breast Cancer Watch Board of Directors. (Breast Cancer Watch was renamed Zero Breast Cancer in 2006.)

"We were looking into toxic loads as a potential cause (of the cancer rates)... We realized that pesticide use was one thing that could be changed, so we started an organization to show how to do maintenance with less-toxic products."

In 1996 and 1997, Souders-Mason, with the Pesticide Free Zone Campaign and Marin Beyond Pesticides Coalition, pressed the Marin County Board of Supervisors for the Integrated Pest Management Ordinance. Passed in 1997, it took effect in 1998.

The ordinance set up a pest management protocol, requiring that mechanical means of prevention be tried first, and in the event that there was no other option than spraying, the least toxic chemical available be used. It permanently banned the use of Class 1 and Class 2 chemicals.

The coalition, which is still working to declare schools pesticide-free zones, also "realized we needed a symbol -- a positive image," says Souders-Mason. Coalition member Joe Draeghert designed a round metal sign with a bright red ladybug on a white background. The signs are marketed all over the country.

Moving Forward

Today, Souders-Mason is hoping to stop a plan by the state Department of Food and Agriculture to begin aerial spraying this August to combat the spread of the light brown apple moth.

"The spraying is expected go on for two to three years, using a chemical that was never ap-proved for urban use, let alone aerial spraying," she says. Toward the end of February this year, the Pesticide Free Zone Web site carried an emergency alert about the spraying. Souders-Mason is digging through information about the moth and the chemicals involved, and learning what she needs to know in order to fight this latest battle.