British Columbia - Canada Lead the Way

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CRD may ban pesticides 

By Don Descoteau
Oak Bay News

In much the same way that the Capital Regional District's (CRD) watering 
restrictions bylaw is adhered to, refusing to use pesticides for lawn and garden 
maintenance remains a personal choice for many.
City of Victoria Councillor Denise Savoie, who chairs the CRD's roundtable on 
the environment, admitted there would be virtually no "teeth" to a bylaw that 
counts on neighbours snitching on each other for enforcement.
"It's about proposing alternatives, not about removing a tool," she said of a 
proposed CRD bylaw that would eventually eliminate the cosmetic use of 
pesticides in the region. "It's adding alternatives that are healthier and removing 
barriers to taking action."
More than 70 municipalities in Canada have either enacted such a bylaw or are 
in the process of implementing one. Savoie said that it has been shown that 
education, coupled with some form of bylaw, works best in changing people's 
gardening habits.
Since the federal government continues to allow the sale of pesticides - 
categorized as herbicides (for weeds), insecticides (for insects) and fungicides 
(for fungus diseases) - the onus is on consumers to restrict their use of such 
products.
"If the demand for these products - and I would emphasize the more toxic 
chemicals - was reduced, I think you'd see them disappear from the shelves," 
Savoie said.
A pesticide control bylaw is another way to convince the public of the 
potential for the chemicals to cause harm, she said, either to the user or (for 
example) to neighbours who might be caught in the downdraft during spraying.
"We can't impact (the market), but by creating awareness and proposing 
alternatives, I think people will begin to see the 'hammer' approach to solving 
gardening problems is not the healthiest way to garden," remarked Savoie.
Paralleling the work of the roundtable on the environment and its community 
action plan for pesticide use, organic gardening clubs are springing up all 
over the region.
One of them is the Society for Organic Urban Lawncare Professionals (SOUL, at 
http://organiclandcare.org).
A survey on the bylaw proposal is available for public perusal online at the 
CRD website, at http://www.crd.bc.ca/rte/pest.  

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