About a dozen Capital Region lawn care companies have gotten an organic lawn state "seal of approval" since the program was launched during the summer of 2010, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Statewide, the Be Green Organic Yards NY program has signed up 112 businesses so far, said DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino. In return for the designation, companies agree that when providing Be Green services they will not use synthetic herbicides, insecticides, insect growth regulators, fungicides, rodenticides or molluscides for customers who want organic lawn care.

When DEC launched the program, the Capital Region had recently lost its only solely organic lawn care firm, and organic advocates said the region was ripe for such businesses to blossom.

Now, there are Be Green-certified companies in Rensselaer, Schenectady, Glenmont, Wynantskill, Latham, Delmar, East Greenbush and Amsterdam. Union College in Schenectady, as well as its graduate college, are also certified under the program.

A listing of all certified businesses, which completed a state-mandated training course, can be found online at www.dec.ny.gov/public/65354.html.

If firms start a lawn customer on an organic care program, that program must continue for at least that season, or the company will lose the Be Green label.

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