<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Ontario enacts province-wide pesticide ban; fine print upsets greens]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by askantik http://www.grist.org/article/OntArIO2/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:34:53 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/OntArIO2/1 Uh...

If it doesn't affect farming, forestry, or golf courses... what exactly DOES it affect...?

]]> Uh...

If it doesn't affect farming, forestry, or golf courses... what exactly DOES it affect...?

]]> Comment #2 by wiscidea http://www.grist.org/article/OntArIO2/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:51:37 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/OntArIO2/2 80 ingredients and 300 products

Can someone please direct me to a list of the 80 ingredients and 300 products?

I've tried and failed to find this information.

Thank you.

]]> 80 ingredients and 300 products

Can someone please direct me to a list of the 80 ingredients and 300 products?

I've tried and failed to find this information.

Thank you.

]]> Comment #3 by wiscidea http://www.grist.org/article/OntArIO2/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:55:44 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/OntArIO2/3 farming, forestry, and golf courses

I hope it also bans use on farms, forests, and golf courses near residential areas. Otherwise, the law seems pretty useless. Does it have an exception for parks as well? Maybe an exception for "professional" application of pesticides around homes? Is this just a way to make people pay some company to control pests? What if I set up a little stand selling green beans in front of my house? Do I get to spray toxic chemicals on my garden?

]]> farming, forestry, and golf courses

I hope it also bans use on farms, forests, and golf courses near residential areas. Otherwise, the law seems pretty useless. Does it have an exception for parks as well? Maybe an exception for "professional" application of pesticides around homes? Is this just a way to make people pay some company to control pests? What if I set up a little stand selling green beans in front of my house? Do I get to spray toxic chemicals on my garden?

]]> Comment #4 by wiscidea http://www.grist.org/article/OntArIO2/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:08:07 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/OntArIO2/4 rotenone

Why do I want to now exactly what is bans? I wonder whether this apparently feel-good law excludes "organic" products for controlling pests.

I went to the garden center to find a relatively safe product for controlling flea beetles on my eggplant and the guy wanted to sell me a can of rotenone POWDER! If I was a typical homeowner interested in killing everything in my garden, I probably would have bought it. However, I first asked whether I would have a problem because the wind never stops blowing around my home. His response... yeah, the slightest wind will coat everything downwind with rotenone. Yep, let's kill all the native beneficial bugs around my garden! He didn't even warn me that I shouldn't use it if there were any streams or pond nearby!

The folks selling pesticides, whether they are synthetic or natural, should be required to warn the user of potential hazards... like a pharmacist does when they hand you a bottle of pills... not just let you walk out of the store with a can of rotenone powder!

One might say... buyer beware... but what if my neighbors are dusting their landscape with the stuff? What is someone assumes it is safe because it is "organic"?

It is time to ban ALL pesticides, synthetic and natural, unless the manufacturer can prove, without doubt, that the pesticide kills ONLY known and recognized pests and NO OTHER organisms when it is used, appropriately or inappropriately.

]]> rotenone

Why do I want to now exactly what is bans? I wonder whether this apparently feel-good law excludes "organic" products for controlling pests.

I went to the garden center to find a relatively safe product for controlling flea beetles on my eggplant and the guy wanted to sell me a can of rotenone POWDER! If I was a typical homeowner interested in killing everything in my garden, I probably would have bought it. However, I first asked whether I would have a problem because the wind never stops blowing around my home. His response... yeah, the slightest wind will coat everything downwind with rotenone. Yep, let's kill all the native beneficial bugs around my garden! He didn't even warn me that I shouldn't use it if there were any streams or pond nearby!

The folks selling pesticides, whether they are synthetic or natural, should be required to warn the user of potential hazards... like a pharmacist does when they hand you a bottle of pills... not just let you walk out of the store with a can of rotenone powder!

One might say... buyer beware... but what if my neighbors are dusting their landscape with the stuff? What is someone assumes it is safe because it is "organic"?

It is time to ban ALL pesticides, synthetic and natural, unless the manufacturer can prove, without doubt, that the pesticide kills ONLY known and recognized pests and NO OTHER organisms when it is used, appropriately or inappropriately.

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