In 2008, both the Alberta and Ontario governments announced separate proposed plans to limit the use of cosmetic pesticides.
While the Alberta weed and feed ban won’t take affect until 2010, the
Ontario government has announced that provincial ban will go into effect on April 22, Earth Day.
The
ban prohibits the sale and use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes on
lawns, gardens, parks and school yards, and includes many herbicides,
fungicides and insecticides. Over 250 products will be banned for sale
and more than 80 pesticide ingredients will be banned for cosmetic
uses. For more information on which chemicals are banned, download the government's retailer fact sheet and visit the pesticide section of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment's website.
In the midst of these changes, I wanted to ask you: how are you preparing for the Ontario ban
at your garden centre? What alternatives will you be offering your
customers and how do you plan to educate customers about these alternatives? What are you doing with banned product that you still have in your inventory? Are
you concerned that your customers will seek out their pesticide
products across the border?
Comment below to have your say!
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Written by Guest on 2009-04-05 10:58:04
I've been an organic grower for a long time and only in drastic situations have I resorted to something containing pyrethrins. It is vitally important that we all take responsibility for the safety of our earth. |
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Written by Guest on 2009-03-23 09:03:21
As a retailer in a border city, I am very concerned about people going to michigan to purchase these banned pesticides. Although we are bringing in natural products for our customers, we will have to work very hard to see that the customer understands that these products will work. |
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Written by Kevin Good on 2009-03-21 10:53:09
I have noticed a lot of the retailers in the Niagara region have signs up saying:
"Pesticide ban April 22 buy them while you can." I am sure some
home owners are going to hoard and store pesticides to use over the next few years but over time
staff education and customer awareness will result in a an environment we will be proud to hand down to our children. |
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Written by Arnold Falk on 2009-03-20 12:02:00
We don't sell any pesticides at our Nursery and we don't use them in our own gardens. |
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Written by Verrips Gardens on 2009-03-17 10:44:55
We are really excited to be able to promote natural products to our customers.
It sometimes takes some educating the customer however, the results of the use of natural products speaks for itself and we have many repeat customers because we take the time to help them understand how the products work.
The companies producing these products are stepping up the packaging as well, making these items an easier item to purchase and use for the customer.
I agree with the other comment, these products really do work!! |
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Written by Doug King on 2009-01-11 14:35:29
We are an organic garden centre so we don't have to go through the kind of learning curve that many of our competitors will. There are plenty of organic alternatives and our customers have been using them with great success for many years. I would suggest that retailers ignore all the mis-information which has been expostulated by some of those opposing a ban and take the time to learn how the products actually work (and they do!). |
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