Diane Lewis

2021 Margaret Douglas Medal

With appreciation for founding The Great Healthy Yard Project which has educated many on the importance of pesticide-free yard maintenance and planting native plants.

Proposed by: Bedford Garden Club, Zone III

Dr. Diane Lewis is an environmental activist and founder of The Great Healthy Yard Project (TGHYP). A medical specialist in kidney diseases, she recognized that water polluted with minute amounts of the chemicals found in synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers can damage endocrine systems causing lifelong effects on humans and animals. Most of these chemicals come from private land, our homes and lawns; what we put on our lawns and gardens ends up in our drinking water. Her book, The Great Healthy Yard Project, together with her speeches, blogs, and newspaper articles helped raise awareness and change national public policy. Individuals, communities, and state and local governments across the country have pledged to care for yards without these chemicals. Diane combines her medical expertise and her love of the outdoors to create a platform that inspires others to take simple, straightforward steps to protect our environment and preserve our health.

The Margaret Douglas Medal is awarded for notable service to the cause of conservation education.

The Margaret Douglas Medal was endowed by Priscilla Sleeper Sterling (Mrs. Robert D. Sterling), Garden Club of Dublin and Monadnock Garden Club, both Zone I, to honor Margaret Bell Douglas (Mrs. Walter Douglas: 1890–1963), GCA member-at-large. The medal was designed by Art Deco sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan in 1952. A native of Canada, Margaret spent much of her adult life in the American Southwest and Mexico. She is credited with the introduction of the papaya crop to Mexico and she helped establish the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ. She was the recipient of the GCA’s Achievement Medal in 1954.

See other winners of this medal