Ahhh summer. Short sleeves, sandals, barbecues with family and friends and the constant snapping of water sprinklers peppers greening lawns.
And yet, in this rolling sea of urbania a small flower pokes its sun-yellowed head above the green. Then another. And yet another.
Dandelions. Clover. Nodding thistle. Suddenly, that tranquil yard has become a plethora of every noxious weed known and the tranquility of urbania is under siege.
No worries. A quick trip to any gardening centre and the chemical dependency to keep that lawn perfect is born.
But what if Alberta were to blanket the province in a complete pesticide and herbicide ban like Quebec and recently Ontario?
It could happen.
Instead of dealing with a patchwork of municipally generated policies regarding the use of these products, the governments of those two provinces did away with the guesswork.
But was it a knee-jerk reaction?
Nigel Bowles believes it was.
The executive director for the Landscape Alberta Nursery Trades Association is afraid governments are making these broad sweeping decisions based on political will and not science.
In fact, Bowles’ fear is such general restrictions will not only impede landscapers as a profession, but on a more drastic note, the complete removal of such tools can open Alberta up to a host of damaging insects that we would not be able to combat such as the Emerald Ash Borer or the infamous Mountain Pine Beetle.
“Edmonton, Calgary, even Leduc, you have heavy tree canopies and yet we have some nasty little insects that are deciding to march their way right across the country,” said Bowles.
Although he welcomes the concept of a provincial set of rules regarding cosmetic chemicals, he’s afraid any legislation, if not thought through, will be detrimental.
“In a number of Ontario municipalities that have decided to ban lawn and garden products in one form or another, you had this mishmash of legislation.”
Bowles said Alberta organizations like LANTA has been proactive in getting major cities to implement integrated pest management policies right into their environmental plans which has also led to a significant decline in pesticide use in his own industry.
What concerns him is grassroots movements calling for complete bans such as once growing in Calgary.
“We know that municipalities are being pressured by activist groups,” mused Bowles.
“But we (landscaping professionals) need these tools in the tool box. If you take them away, I think the long-term consequences will be far more devastating than the products in the first place.”
However, what Bowles would endorse is a ban on certain cosmetic pesticides now readily accessible to the average homeowner.
Anything granular that requires the average homeowner to mix it himself. Weed and feed chemicals are one of his biggest concerns, stating unless properly trained, the average homeowner tends to overuse such products that can easily end up in the water tables.
“Pesticide levels in our rivers have gone up and it’s been equated to the use of weed in feed fertilizers. We’d certainly like to see these taken off of the market.”
He added such chemicals simply don’t fit into the integrated pest management programs now being implemented.
Approximately, 40 per cent of Albertans regularly apply chemicals to their lawns, a sharp contrast that’s witnessed a Canada-wide decline in the number of pesticide users, from 31 per cent in 1994 to 29 per cent in 2006, according to Statistics Canada.
He also charged applying a complete ban is illogical since it is a complete ban of only a handful of known chemicals. He said the knee-jerk reaction in no way takes into account the numerous chemicals all around us from dog collars that control fleas to general cleaners, thus such bans as though coming into effect in Ontario and Quebec are moot and superficially appease groups who are not looking at a far bigger picture.
"All of the products used domestically are regulated by Health Canada as safe to use," said Bowles. “But we have asked the government to consider restricting weed and feed and asked them to look at the sales of concentrates and only leave premixed products for the general product.”
Bowles agrees with the intent of banning certain cosmetic pesticides, but without a logical scientific approach behind it, such an all-encompassing ban would be detrimental.
Proprietor and published by Bowes Publishers Limited at 4504 - 61 Avenue, Leduc, Alberta, Canada T9E3Z1
