In early Dec. 2019, Sonoma State University announced a newly enacted ban on the use of glyphosate herbicides around campus, including the widely criticized product Roundup. This new initiative was introduced as a way to increase sustainability and human health on campus. From now on, only organic herbicides will be used to control weeds and manage the landscape around the school’s 269-acre campus, which includes a variety of landscaping, lawns, and gardens .

“We wanted to take a proactive approach to this issue,” said Alan Goff, Sonoma State landscape manager, in a statement. Goff previously helped Pepperdine University eliminate glyphosate chemicals, and after discussion with SSU, said: “We wanted to bring that momentum up here.”

The University promptly began testing a number of organic herbicides to determine the most effective product for weed control. Increased use of mulch, which helps limit weed growth in addition to retaining moisture and reducing water wastage, is being implemented around campus as well. 

The herbicide Roundup earned a notorious reputation in recent years, after more than 42,000 plaintiffs made adverse health claims in several large-scale nationwide lawsuits. Multiple trials, including one in California, involve plaintiffs alleging they developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after continuous exposure to the chemical. 

In April of last year, a federal jury ordered Monsanto, the manufacturers of Roundup, to pay a Sonoma County man $80 million for his development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The jury stated that the product was likely a “substantial factor” in causing the plaintiff’s cancer. The 70-year-old victim used Roundup to treat poison oak, overgrowth and weeds around his property for many years, and often accidentally got the product on his skin.

The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in a 2015 report, citing a review of over 1,000 studies. Despite all of this, Roundup, which has been on the market since its patent in 1974, is still widely used commercially and residentially around the United States, and can be purchased over the counter in many home and garden stores, including Home Depot. 

Sonoma State’s new commitment was well-received on social media, with Facebook users praising the decision. “Every campus should be following the lead on this,” one user commented on the announcement. 

The surrounding cities of Santa Rosa, Windsor and Sonoma have made similar commitments to banning or reducing the use of synthetic pesticides on public land, with Sonoma specifically banning the use of glyphosate. For months, many frustrated local advocates have been aggressively pushing for Rohnert Park and Cotati to enact similar measures. 

In SSU’s press release, Goff stated that the new organic products will be inherently less aggressive in battling weeds around campus, and will present some challenges for staff. “But we knew that going into it,” he said. “It’s going to increase labor as well as additional material, however, the environment is worth it.”