Gardening With the Environmentalists

With spring now in full force (is anyone else always amazed at how fast the city becomes so green?), the gardening enthusiasts of Toronto are lining up at Home Depots across the city to stock up on their Miracle Grow, their pansies and their gardening gloves. However, the one thing that amateur horticulturalists will not be able to pick up from any company this season, is a toxic dose of pesticides to kill off plants that are deemed “weeds” by our fickle society (for what is a weed, but a "a plant anywhere you don't want it?").

Is this really such a political issue that Denzil Minnan-Wong has had to come to the defense of his proud-gardening constituents of Don Mills who, since September of last year, have had to put up with the foul and feral blight of dandelions on their lawns? They ignore the links of pesticides to cancer and allergies, all for the vista of a green, unadultered lawn.

Personally, I agree with Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, who likes the yellow-topped herb: “If you like it it’s a flower, if you don’t it’s a weed. I think they’re like the forsythia in a way...one of the first signs of spring.” (see: pulse24.com for full article and a list of organic ways to be rid of weeds, should you choose).



Why do we feel the need to control nature to the point of pouring toxins into our soil for our children and pets to roll around in? Let’s think of our earth and the ecosystems that exist on it, not just the view from our lonely windows.