quote:

Originally posted by btanchors:
an instructor starts every class by drinking a diluted cup of Roundup in front of the class with no apparent ill effects.

Part of the initiation rites when new airmen were assigned to the unit(s) in Viet Nam that sprayed Agent Orange over the landscape to kill the vegetation was to drink a glass of the stuff. In the late 19th century when the germ theory of disease was still being debated among serious physicians, one who rejected the idea, Ilya Metchnikoff, demonstrated his resolve by drinking a solution that was full of cholera bacteria; neither he nor the first volunteer he recruited to repeat the experiment got sick, but the second volunteer nearly died of the disease. More recently in the late 20th century, Peter Duesberg was a physician who rejected the theory that the HIV caused AIDS, and claimed to have exposed himself to the body fluids of an AIDS patient without harm.

“My grandma smoked four packs of unfiltered Camels a day and only died at age 92 when she got run over by a tractor.”

One of the most puzzling things about human nature is the failure to recognize the obvious facts that not everything that’s bad for us has immediate noticeable effects, and not everyone is affected by all bad things the same way. None of us is getting out of here alive, and it’s impossible to avoid exposure to everything that is hazardous to some degree, but at least be honest with ourselves and others in assuming the risks. The people we influence learn from us, and teaching and encouraging them to run unnecessary risks by dishonestly rationalizing what we ourselves do is immoral.

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Originally posted by btanchors:

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Originally posted by OKCGene:
Many bees are dying due to this, and it affects our food supply.

Apparently, from what I've heard, many foods have traces of Round Up, and other chemicals, in them. We are consuming this. That's not good yet we are told it's no problem.

Funny you should mention this. Yesterday my son, who has multiple certifications for applying pesticides, fertilizers, etc., told me in one of his training classes that an instructor starts every class by drinking a diluted cup of Roundup in front of the class with no apparent ill effects.

Personally, I don't care if they guy thinks it's harmless or not, I think he is a fool. My son deals with these chemicals every day in his job. The company he works for is nuts about protection, and they must wear rubber gloves, eye protection, have no bare skin exposed, etc. But sometimes in the evening he comes home smelling of chemicals. He takes a shower the minute he comes home from work.

Although he apparently takes all the proper precautions, I worry the long term health effects this might have, especially to his immune and reproductive systems.

I spent 10 years in that industry. I joke that I’m to be buried in a hazmat landfill.

Enough of anything is harmful. The old chemistry was worse by orders of magnitude. I look at Roundup as mother’s milk.

I remember the first spring after I quit I didn’t get a “cold”. Haven’t for 22 years now, probably a coincidence. I miss the job but no doubt I’m better off now, too many of the old timers died of brain and lung cancer, again probably not a coincidence.

Bees aren't killed by lawn fertilizers or weed sprays. It's the neonicotinoids that are of concern.

put it this way ,

the people in the gulf of mexico are trying to get people 1000 miles up stream , in Iowa to
take it easy , because the chemical's that Iowans use, in the amounts they use are killing the ocean.

yeah ,yeah , yeah , we are feeding a billion people who could use a couple of calories , here and there, but we are killing an ocean!

Get a soil test and apply only what is needed.

Use pelletized, long release products. Put the products down on a non-windy day at the required rate for your turf. Water it in after you put it down. This will set it and minimize run-off from heavy rains. Avoid getting it into any storm sewers that may abutt your property.

Don't apply the stuff an hour before a gully-washer.

If you are really concerned, use a product that does not contain weed killers and either spot treat each weed or hand dig/pull them. Get yourself a small seat with lawn tires to save your back if you are going to pull or a tool that lets you stand upright.

Remember, even the organic and natural fertilizers can harm creeks, rivers, lakes and treatment facilities as much as the chemical versions.

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Originally posted by Gene Hillman:

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Originally posted by Bulldog7972:

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Horse poop!!

Doesn't that shit smell bad?

Ever smell human manure?

The golf course I play buys a product from the sewer plant, now marketed as Bloom. Dried human feces and yard clippings. I kid you not. It's ground to pellet size, bulk or bagged, marketed to farmers and such. The course superintendent told me it was too cheap to turn down. The shit was hard as a rock, didn't smell, took nearly a week to disappear into the grass. The old ladies freaked out.

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Originally posted by cne32507:
The golf course I play buys a product from the sewer plant, now marketed as Bloom. Dried human feces and yard clippings. I kid you not. It's ground to pellet size, bulk or bagged, marketed to farmers and such. The course superintendent told me it was too cheap to turn down. The shit was hard as a rock, didn't smell, took nearly a week to disappear into the grass. The old ladies freaked out.

That's got to break some kosher laws.

I usually grow a small garden. 6 tomatoes, few peppers, lettuce, onions, cukes, zucchini. I sometimes sprinkle Sevin dust to control bugs. Thought I read it’s harmful to bees and fish.

I also look for arrowheads in a large farm field. Got caught in the field when the farmer was spraying Roundup. Wind shifted and started to drizzle and it caught me in a cloud when I was leaving. Got covered real good. Got a big dose that day. Also spray Roundup about 10 times a year between mine, neighbors, and when parents had their home. I can always smell it and taste it even though I wear protection on skin and no wind blowing.

Fast forward about 10 yrs and they find Non Hodgkins Lymphoma in my colon during a colonoscopy. Got chemo and all is well so far. But they can’t cure it and it’ll come back.

Now I see class action lawsuit against Monsanto because theres a link between NHL and Roundup. I haven’t called yet, as they seem to be looking for agriculture/landscape workers. I probably should call and discuss but not sure which firm to contact. Im sure Monsanto will fight til long after I’m gone.

So I have been fighting a loosing battle with this yard of mine.
I have tried my hardest. I just signed up with TruGreen less than 15 minutes ago, am I a bad bee killing person?

Chemicals are having a serious effect on some waters here in Florida. Just look up Lake Okeechobee and all of the issues it has from the farming and lawn runoff. The lake was once beautiful and is a complete mess now.

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Originally posted by Black92LX:
So I have been fighting a loosing battle with this yard of mine.
I have tried my hardest. I just signed up with TruGreen less than 15 minutes ago, am I a bad bee killing person?

I think you'd most likely be better off calling a local small business than a nationwide company who doesn't know you from Adam.

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Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
So I have been fighting a loosing battle with this yard of mine.
I have tried my hardest. I just signed up with TruGreen less than 15 minutes ago, am I a bad bee killing person?

I think you'd most likely be better off calling a local small business than a nationwide company who doesn't know you from Adam.

I agree with this and had the same experience. I hired a large company and my lawn ended up looking worse than when I did it myself. The worker for the large company was in and out of my yard in record breaking time.

My lawn man recommended a local guy/business who it's just him and his son and they have a large spraying truck and that's all they do is spray lawns, and my lawn is now the best in the neighborhood.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
So I have been fighting a loosing battle with this yard of mine.
I have tried my hardest. I just signed up with TruGreen less than 15 minutes ago, am I a bad bee killing person?

I think you'd most likely be better off calling a local small business than a nationwide company who doesn't know you from Adam.

I thought the same.
I asked the folks on the block with the best lawns who they used.
1 guy did it himself.
The other 3 all used TruGreen with 2 using the local guy prior to and were very unhappy with the results.
That is why I went with TruGreen as they are providing the best results close to me.

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Originally posted by Black92LX:

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Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
So I have been fighting a loosing battle with this yard of mine.
I have tried my hardest. I just signed up with TruGreen less than 15 minutes ago, am I a bad bee killing person?

I think you'd most likely be better off calling a local small business than a nationwide company who doesn't know you from Adam.

I thought the same.
I asked the folks on the block with the best lawns who they used.
1 guy did it himself.
The other 3 all used TruGreen with 2 using the local guy prior to and were very unhappy with the results.
That is why I went with TruGreen as they are providing the best results close to me.

Then that should work out well if several of your neighbors are getting great results from Trugreen.

Find a DIY store. Best way to have a nice lawn

We had vet that cared for our pets when I was growing up. I happened to run In to him 20-30 years later and while talking he commented that he was convinced that as the use of lawn chemicals increased so did the health problems in pets.
Tumors and seizures were a couple things he mentioned.
I have a dog so no chemicals are used on my lawn.

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Originally posted by HRK:
Find a DIY store. Best way to have a nice lawn

Not the case. Been doing that for 3 years to no avail. Even ripped out the entire yard last spring and started new.
Looks better than ever but still weedy, lots of lavender and clover. Not dark green and not thick and plush.

I’m in the minimalistic camp with lawn, garden, and pest killer chemicals. Since we’re in the country, a few(or a lot) of dandelions are of no concern. Besides the lawn there are plenty to seed in from the field edges anyway.

I do get rid of the ‘picker’ type weeds, with needles in them. I have used a few things in the past, still do at times, even have fruit trees. I am a bee lover, never had a give myself though. I’ve never sprayed when anything is close to blossom.

If things get out of control, I knock it back some. If it kills a bug or plant, can’t be great for us. Then we have the dog rooting around all the time. I have no problem eating around a wormhole on my Apple.

If you want to find stuff to worry about it is not hard. You cannot find one thing that there is not someone or a group of people that has issues because of it. Not trying to start anything, it is just my observation.