Eco Tip:Avoid Chemical Pesticides

Pesticides are often much more harmful than the weeds, fungi, or pests themselves.   Email This Tip  | Back to All Tips Ratings: What are Ratings? Impact Health Savings Ease   Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and any other materials that are intended to kill or otherwise harm living organisms. Pesticides are not only bad for weeds, pests or fungi, but also poison humans and animals. Some legal pesticides are even known to cause cancer in high doses. Even if you do not come into direct contact with a pesticide, it can still find its way into your body; there is pesticide residue on most of the food that we eat (unless it is organic) and most of the water that we drink. The only way to reduce our exposure to pesticides is to stop using them wherever we can. There are lots of ways to control pests without pesticides, and the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides has answers for specific pest problems. By fine-tuning your garden or lawn to your environment (i.e. with native plants), you can minimize the need for pesticides in the first place. Some complementary plants can actually serve as natural pest repellents for other species, so ask someone at your local nursery for their recommendations. And remember that not all "pests" are bad—dandelions, for instance, can be beneficial to your backyard ecosystem—so weigh both sides before trying to eliminate them.   Take Action / Next Steps Learn more about planting native species. Find out more about buying organic on ecomii.