The EPA is not doing it’s job. Also of note is the failure to protect San Francisco area species from dangerous pesticides. But these nasty home and farm pesticides aren’t just hurting bay area species. They are traveling up to the arctic and hurting polar bears.
There’s this mad, almost obsessive culture in our country where we feel we have to spray the shit out of everything with chemicals. The truth is, we don’t even need 90% of the crap we spray into the air. It’s just marketing. Yet people continue to do it. See carbaryl as a particularly nasty example. See DWR, which is applied to any nice sleeping bag or quality fleece jacket(in most cases a toxic water proofing spray). There is no free lunch. If you want to lose weight you are going to have to not eat as much. If you want to spray chemicals everywhere, you are going to have side effects.
Just how far reaching is the problem of home pesticides and farm pesticides? Check it out:
“contamination of the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions through long-range transport of persistent organic pollutants has been recognized for over 30 years.”
Polar bears are not only being threatened by climate change, but now they are at the receiving end of our pointless chemical dumps. Polar bears now have some of the highest concentrations of these worthless chemicals and are under threat. How’s that for a one two punch to one of the most remote animals on the planet? Next time you pick up that home pesticide,ask yourself “what exactly is this, and why do I need it?”. The answer will probably be “I don’t”. Save yourself the money too. And when one of the local “lawn care” companies(basically toxic chemical delivery systems in residential areas) comes knocking tell them ” no thanks, I’m going green”.
Somewhere at the top of the world, a polar bear thanks you. And the life forms that exist in and around your yard will thank you too when you stop using garbage like Round Up, especially frogs.
