Why pesticides are bad for your lawn and your family
As summer fast approaches (we’re just over a month away), the number of Americans tending to their lawn and gardens will grow. While the amount of attention our yards require increases, there’s a tendency to rely on products that can be harmful to not only the very lawns and gardens they're meant to treat, but also our families.
BobVila.com recently posted an article titled “8 Reasons Not to Use Pesticides in Your Yard and Garden”. The article, written by Jennifer Noonan, touches on everything from the expense, pet hazards, water runoff, and more. We’ll talk about just a few of the eight here, but encourage you to read the article in its entirety by visiting the link below.
Water Run Off:
When it rains, the water runs off into our streams, rivers, and oceans. When you introduce pesticides into our waterways by using them in our yards, we shake up the ecosystem – and not in a good way. As Jennifer writes, many of the animals lurking in and near the water “feed on bugs and are doing their part to keep local insect populations in check”.
Pet Hazards:
If the toxins in a pesticide are harmful to you and your family, chances are they’re harmful to the furred members of your family too! Our pets are especially at risk because they don’t know it’s unsafe to consume certain grass, plants, or flowers. Waiting a designated amount of time to let our furry friends into a recently treated lawn is wise, but the best bet is to not treat our yards with pesticides at all if it can be avoided.
Overkill:
When you buy a pesticide that says it kills aphids, an insect that’s harmful to plants, there’s a chance you could also be killing caterpillars that will eventually turn into beautiful monarch butterflies. The reason is most pesticides that advertise themselves as killers of specific harmful critters, really aren’t all that discerning after all. While you want to rid your lawn and garden of problematic creatures, we don’t want to eliminate the ones that help grow and bloom.
To read Jennifer’s complete post over at BobVila.com, follow this link: https://bit.ly/2VZBsfF