Calling for a by-law:
The CHO is calling for the City of Ottawa to immediately pass a by-law that would restrict the cosmetic use of lawncare pesticides. Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Vancouver and over 140 other Canadian municipalities, as well as the Province of Quebec, now protect citizens from unwanted exposure to these ubiquitous lawn care toxins! source
On April 22, 2008, Earth Day, the Ontario Government
introduced
Bill 64 - "The Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Act,
2008" - that will implement a province-wide ban on the cosmetic use and sale
of lawn and garden pesticides. The ban would likely take effect next
spring. However, CHO has major concerns that Bill 64, as currently
worded, has unacceptable flaws that need to be corrected. Please visit CHO's
Action Alert
page that details what you can do to help improve the Bill.
CHO Background:
The CHO is a coalition of individuals, health care professionals, scientists, and health and environmental organisations working to ban the cosmetic use of lawncare pesticides in Ottawa, Canada. The CHO supports healthy, sustainable landscapes by encouraging organic non-toxic pest management strategies, and seeking a by-law restricting the use of pesticides for lawncare and gardening.
The CHO seeks to achieve this objective by:
- Creating a social environment where non-toxic pest control methods are the norm;
- Encouraging users of toxic pesticides to switch to safer alternatives; and,
- Advocating the adoption of a bylaw restricting pesticide use for cosmetic purposes in urban Ottawa.
The CHO endorses the City of Ottawa pesticide policy for public property, which states:
"Public health is the primary determinant as to whether or not a toxic substance shall be used in urban areas of the City of Ottawa. Pesticide use shall be limited to cases where the health risks of application of the pesticide are clearly less than the risk to human health resulting from no action, and where the pesticide to be used poses less risk to health than any other practical method of solving the problem."
As safer natural organic lawn care
methods and Ottawa organic
lawncare companies exist, there's no
need to rely upon harmful synthetic pesticides. A pesticide bylaw makes
good sense!
The time has therefore come for Ottawa City
Council to adopt a pesticide by-law that respects the basic rights of us all
to a healthy environment with clean air, clean water and clean soil.
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