Letter from council candidate re: pesticide use
by Contributor on 31 Jul 2013
Dear Editor,
Did you know that being cosmetic-pesticide-free will save tax dollars in the long run?
A recent “Thanks & Spanks” post (in the Castlegar News), bewailing City parks being watered almost daily while residents are fined if they do so outside of their allotted days, reminded me not only that pesticide-treated lawns need frequent watering, wasting both water and hence tax dollars, but also that the lawns’ dependence on the purchase of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers becomes an increasingly expensive addiction.
Evidence shows that converting to organic turf-maintenance, i.e. nurturing healthy soil microbiology and hence strong grass that overtakes the weeds, is cheaper in the long run. More labour-intensive care such as proper aeration, compost topdressing and natural soil amendments, cost a bit more for the first two years and then drop significantly. Vancouver, Port Moody, Burnaby, Ottawa and Halifax have found pesticide-free care to be cost effective.
To quote a rigorous report prepared for members of the New York State legislature in 2010, which thanks to the Canadian Cancer Society we found via the reputable “Beyond pesticides” webpage, http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=3318 , “the annual cost of maintaining a field using natural products and techniques can be as much as 25% lower than the cost of conventional programs using chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
“It can take a few seasons to undo the damage caused by chemical management programs, revitalize the soil biology and let nature do its work,” says the report’s principal author, Charles “Chip” Osborne, a nationally-recognized natural turf expert and Beyond Pesticides board member who serves as a consultant to many New York school districts. “But once we get the soil biology working for us, we can see some dramatic and significant cost reductions fairly quickly.”
I’ve provided this information to our Civic Works department, as well as links to North America’s foremost advisor on natural turf management, Paul Tukey of www.safelawns.org , and contacts with pesticide-free municipalities such as Revelstoke, Nelson and Grand Forks.
Looking forward to attending this Tuesday’s 9 a.m. Civic Works Committee meeting, at 4500 Minto Road, to hear them digesting and deliberating on this win-win alternative!
Antoinette Halberstadt
via Letter from council candidate re: pesticide use | The Castlegar Source.
Halberstadt is WRONG !
Organic Pesticide-Free Maintenance is NOT COST EFFECTIVE and DOES NOT WORK !
Halberstadt is merely using SPECIALLY SELECTED REFERENCE SOURCES in order to VALIDATE an Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION.
Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION HAS INFLICTED CATASTROPHIC CARNAGE FOR BUSINESSES OPERATING IN THE PROFESSIONAL LAWN CARE INDUSTRY. An OVERWHELMING NUMBER of these businesses DISAPPEAR INTO OBLIVION with 2 or 3 years AFTER PROHIBITION. THOUSANDS OF WORKERS in the Professional Lawn Care Industry become UNEMPLOYED. http://wp.me/P1jq40-43B Moreover, lawns located in PROHIBITION neighborhoods ARE RUINED BY PESTS, and become DANGEROUS AND PEST-INFESTED GARBAGE DUMPS. http://wp.me/P1jq40-44g http://wp.me/P1jq40-4z3 DANDELIONS become THE DOMINANT GROUND COVER. Organic Pesticide-Free Lawn Maintenance is STUNNINGLY EXPENSIVE and DOES NOT WORK. http://wp.me/P1jq40-445 Besides, PESTICIDE BANS ARE A FARCE. Residents are obtaining products either from other provinces, or from across the border in the United States, or through the Internet. http://wp.me/p1jq40-4mS It is NOT illegal to own or possess these products, only to apply them.
If City of Castlegar decides to go Pesticide-Free, then municipal officials had better get used to CRAWLING ON THEIR HAND AND KNEES FOR WEED-PICKING LIKE COTTON-PICKERS. NO ONE WANTS THIS #@!!% NONSENSE OF MANUAL WEED PICKING JUST BECAUSE THERE IS AN ARBITRARY PESTICIDE BAN ! If a small minority of highly-motivated residents want to spend 40 to 50 hours plus per week weeding their properties, that’s their prerogative. IMPOSING that life-style on everyone else FOR NO GOOD REASON is not. Manual weed picking is TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE. http://wp.me/p1jq40-4ml
Using Revelstoke as an example of some kind of Pesticide-Free SUCCESS is MIS-LEADING. Revelstoke Government Officials estimated the STUNNINGLY EXORBITANT COSTS OF A 2011 PESTICIDE BAN would INCREASE to from $25,000 to up to $45,000. The COSTS of maintaining the city’s sports fields was expected to INCREASE to $45,000 from $25,000 if the city continued to use a contractor, or INCREASE to $33,750 if the city purchased its own field maintenance equipment at a COST of about $80,000.
Can MUNICIPALITIES and HOME-OWNERS in Castlegar afford the HARDSHIP AND COST of this #@!!% PESTICIDE BAN NONSENSE ?!?! NO ! When it comes to PESTICIDE BANS, Municipal Officials can learn a lot from the experience of those jurisdictions that have SUFFERED THE HARDSHIP AND COST OF THIS #@!!% NONSENSE ! http://wp.me/P1jq40-43V Organic Pesticide-Free Maintenance is promoted by ENVIRO-VERMIN with UNVERIFIABLE SUCCESS STORIES ! It is a DISMAL FAILURE ! http://wp.me/P1jq40-3yl Green Alternative Pesticides, as well as Organic Fertilizers, are often owned and distributed by the VERY SAME ENVIRO-VERMIN who CONSPIRE to IMPOSE Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION. The question of Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION revolves less around health and environment concerns, and more around THE SALE OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES that are SOLD AT STUNNINGLY EXORBITANT COSTS. Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION is a SALES STRATEGY used to keep people from purchasing conventional products that are NOT sold and distributed by people like Paul Tukey. http://wp.me/P1jq40-3AG
For more information regarding PROHIBITION INFLICTING CATASTROPHIC CARNAGE, go to … http://wp.me/P1jq40-26P
WILLIAM H. GATHERCOLE AND NORAH G https://pesticidetruths.com/ http://wp.me/P1jq40-2rr
REFERENCES REGARDING REVELSTOKE ―
REFERENCE — CARNAGE — 2010 02 22 — BAN COSTS — MAINTAINING SPORTS FIELDS — THE COST OF MAINTAINING THE CITY’S SPORTS FIELDS WAS EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO $45,000 FROM $25,000 IF THE CITY CONTINUED TO USE A CONTRACTOR, OR TO $33,750 IF THE CITY PURCHASED IT’S OWN FIELD MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT AT A COST OF ABOUT $80,000 — REVELSTOKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA — VERSION 1
https://pesticidetruths.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reference-CARNAGE-2010-02-22-BAN-COSTS-Maintaining-Sports-Fields-Revelstoke-BC-1.pdf
REFERENCE — CARNAGE — 2010 02 22 — BAN COSTS — MAINTAINING SPORTS FIELDS — THE COST OF MAINTAINING THE CITY’S SPORTS FIELDS WAS EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO $45,000 FROM $25,000 IF THE CITY CONTINUED TO USE A CONTRACTOR, OR TO $33,750 IF THE CITY PURCHASED IT’S OWN FIELD MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT AT A COST OF ABOUT $80,000 — REVELSTOKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA — VERSION 2
https://pesticidetruths.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reference-CARNAGE-2010-02-22-BAN-COSTS-Maintaining-Sports-Fields-Revelstoke-BC-2.pdf