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| Below is an excerpt from an article I just read which I thought should be of concern to all gardeners given the dire situation about bee die off. I think it's very important to know how our actions affect the environment. Link to full article is below. Diane Excerpt from article: Now, a first-of-its-kind pilot study2, released by Friends of the Earth and its allies, reveals that many homeowners unwittingly contribute to the problem by purchasing so-called "bee friendly" garden plants sold at Home Depot, Lowe's, and other garden centers i.e. plants that attract bees that have been pre-treated with pesticides that could in fact be lethal to the bees. As it turns out, more than half of the plants tested were found to have these toxic pesticide residues. Contaminated plants included tomatoes, squash, salvia and flowers that would be attractive to pollinators. As reported by Friends of the Earth3: "The pilot study, co-authored by the Pesticide Research Institute, found that 7 of 13 samples of garden plants purchased at top retailers in Washington D.C., the San Francisco Bay Area and Minneapolis contain neurotoxic pesticides known as neonicotinoids that studies show could harm or kill bees and other pollinators... 'Our investigation is the first to show that so called "bee-friendly" garden plants contain pesticides that can poison bees, with no warning to gardeners,' said Lisa Archer, director of the Food and Technology Program at Friends of the Earth. 'Bees are essential to our food system and they are dying at alarming rates. Neonic pesticides are a key part of the problem we can start to fix right now in our own backyards.'" |
Here is a link that might be useful: full article about bee die off
Follow-Up Postings:
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| That is scary! Is there anything that can be done to these pre-treated plants to make them safe? |
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| I really don't know the answer to that. I plan on not buying any plants from Lowe's or Home Depot til they change their policy. Below is a link to a petition I signed to the CEOs of both companies calling for them to stop selling treated plants like companies in the UK that have stopped selling them. Diane |
Here is a link that might be useful: Petition to Lowe's and Home Depot
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- Posted by floridarosez9 10 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 3, 13 at 17:38
| Well, I already start most of my things from seed. I guess it will be everything from seed now. I also signed the petition. Now, if there was just a petition to stop fracking. |
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| Thank you Diane, for that information, and for the petition, which of course I signed. I'm really glad that I patronize our small local nursery which is struggling and so hopefully haven't contributed to that problem. It's just another example of big business not giving a d..n about what they hurt as long as it's expedient for them. floridarose, I've already signed dozens of petitions to stop fracking and I don't think it's made the slightest difference. Once your name goes on an eco-friendly list you'll be signing petitions to save manatees, drinking water, Arctic wildlife and everything else you can think of. I don't want to think about how much money I've contributed because of the impassioned pleas that I get in my e-mail every day, but on the other hand I'm not sure I can think of a better way to spend it. Ingrid |
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- Posted by kittymoonbeam 10 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 3, 13 at 21:56
| I was asking about a cure for my neighbors tree on the fruit & orchard forum. The suggestion was a Bayer systemic that is banned in France and elsewhere because it caused large scale colony collapse. When I went to my pal at the local farmers market to see if he thought it could be used safely, he said all the large CA grape and tomato producers were using it and probably it was being used widely by other growers. We are eating that stuff even if we aren't using it ourselves and the bees and earthworms get the worst of it. |
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| It can seem that petitions don't make a durn bit of difference. In this case, the big box marketplace is pretty well saturated, so CEOs might, might be inclined to listen to customers. |
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| Thanks to everyone that signed. I still believe petitions can make a difference, especially when boycotts hurt companies in their pocketbooks. kittymoonbeam, i would NEVER eat grapes and tomatoes that were not grown organically. Diane Diane |
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