Concentration of CO2 in the Atmosphere

WARNING!

Tainted Plants at Many Retail Garden Centers!

Staff Article

In April 2015, we heard some good news from the Toxic Action Center: that Lowe’s has finally committed to get rid of bee-killing pesticides!

Neonics, that are found in many plants being sold in commercial retail markets, can kill our bees. Bees are important pollinators! Photo: http://farm9.static. flickr.com/8506/8475706265_849d8269a5_m.jpg

Neonics, that are found in many plants being sold in commercial retail markets, can kill our bees. Bees are important pollinators! 

The results from a strong network of allies working on this campaign mean that Lowe’s has made the most significant public commitment so far for a retailer of its size. It has joined a growing number of retailers that are taking action on neonics, including Home Depot and BJ’s Wholesale Club, but it has gone further by setting a firm date to stop selling plants raised with them.

So what does this mean? Lowe’s will phase out neonics and plants pre-treated with them by the spring of 2019. It is also working with suppliers to minimize pesticide use overall and move to safer alternatives. Please note that this means that the products being sold until 2019 will still be tainted and can kill our important pollinators!

While Lowe’s progress is encouraging, we have a ways to go to assure the future of bees and the necessary pollination they provide to us. The next-largest garden retailers, True Value and Ace, have yet to make any similar commitments on bee-killing pesticides. We hope that they will soon also commit to the same so that everyone can plant bee-friendly gardens!

Another reason to Shop Local!

Please think about the bees when shopping for plants. If we make smarter choices by buying from locally-sourced and especially organic nurseries, we’ll get bee-toxic pesticides off the shelves, out of our backyards, and out of our communities. It’s our future. We need to eat. We need the bees!

Contacts: Toxic Action Center: www.toxicsaction.org

Montpelier, VT: (802) 223-4099; Amherst, MA: (413) 253-4458; Concord, NH: (603) 229-1331; Sylvia Broude – Executive Director (617) 747-4407 sylvia@toxicsaction.org.

Read about the toxicity of Neonicotinoids at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid

Photo: Photo: http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8506/8475706265_849d8269a5_m.jpg

Leave a Reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>