I think its great, and the government should go farther with things like this. How long can we go on killing our planet. We all know how severe climate change is, so its about time. I also think its sad that we the general population only act when the government says, why cant we do these things on our own. Why do we need to be policed into doing the right thing.

Thanks Adam aka greenman_grower

My lot is 44 x 125 and I wander around 3 or 4 times a week removing weeds. This is not a difficult exercise and I have been here 9 years now and never sprayed my grass. I am very happy with this kind of ban, too few seem to consider anything except ease of life today. Tomorrow belongs to my grand children.

I'm all for it. Perhaps the government had to do it because for decades people didn't really care enough about what they were doing to the planet and all they wanted was fast and simple ways of doing things in the garden(and other places). What's wrong with doing things like our parents and grandparents did? The planet was a better place back then.

HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality) where I live did this back in 2000. At least I think that was the year. They banned a LOT of chemicals from the treatment of gardens and landscapes and ever since then have been educating people on the alternatives. Now I'm not saying that we have achieved perfection in this regard, but moving forward in this respect is better than maintaining what used to be the status quo.

At first there was uproar from the landscaping and some of the gardening businesses which knew no other than to use these chemicals, but none of these businesses failed because of the change and for those which embraced the turnaround, their business profits/volume increased.

It's all a matter of perception and knowledge. We do what we know how to do and when we know better we do better.

My personal experience in eliminating chemicals from the gardens has been wonderful. It has meant more physical work on my behalf (Can't afford to hire help), but then again the physical activity is good for my well-being. Makes me less of a couch potato.

The year after the ban was implimented, we bought a home in a more rural setting but still in HRM. I began to garden 'organically'. Keep in mind that I do not wear an organic banner on my forehead. :O) I gather UCGs (used coffee grounds) from a local store and throw them on the lawn to feed it. The lawn no longer turns brown in mid-July but stays lush and green all summer. The gardens are fed with my compost and no chemicals are used whatsoever because we raise Monarchs. Last year I was asked to participate in a local garden tour and I fielded so many questions about how I garden. People are truly becoming interested in nature's balance out there. They noticed that we had a lot of toads/frogs, birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects, and even though they had come for the flowers, at least 90% asked questions about my 4 compost bins, stash of leaves, and lasagna gardens which were in progress.

Here's a few photos...
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The lawn. Whatever brown you may see are clippings left there to feed the lawn over again. We mow with a reel mower. The new ones are easy to push and no gas or excessive noise...
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Mulch made of UCGs and shredded leaves.
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Part of the hosta gardens in June.
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Last Monarch of 2008 (male) released October 5th.
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Tiffy,

What a beautiful cottage garden you have and I envy your garden space.

I've mostly eliminated chemicals from my garden. However I do get some infestations that are very difficult to irradicate and so I have used pyrethium based products every now and then. I don't like using chemical fertilzers and rely mostly on composted matter. I love the idea of organic gardening and will eventually get to that stage.

We do have to take steps however miniscule to a healthier lifestyle. Having said this, we still have a long way to go to a healthier lifestyle. We do expose ourselves to chemicals on a daily basis, from our food product to how we groom ourselves.

Ianna

For jurisdictions that do not already have a pesticide ban, the provincial ban is an improvement.

But for places that already have (hard won!) bans in place, the government regulations are often weaker than the local ones. People need to read the fine print. There are gaping loopholes in the regulations, especially around the mixing of "biopesticides" and low-risk pesticides with Class 4 conventional pesticides (anything not included under other classes and labelled for domestic use). So it appears that the chem-heads can simply find a Class 4 (conventional) product that contains a bit of the benign stuff, and spray the lawns, gardens, schoolyards and parks, as they always have.

The Ontario ban comes into effect on April 22. You can read about it here: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/news/2009/030401.php

One part of the ban is especially troubling to me:
"There is no longer an exception from licensing and posting requirements for the use of domestic products that contain only a single active ingredient that is a soap, mineral oil, or silicon dioxide (diatomaceous earth) for land exterminations. Commercial land uses of products that contain these active ingredients requires a landscape exterminatorÂs licence and appropriate signs to be posted
giving public notice of pesticide use."

This effectively hands the keys to the chem-heads and trigger-happy landscaping / lawn spray companies. It's a serious kick in the side to the fledgling organic lawn care industry, requiring all practitioners to take courses, write exams and get licenced for all the chemicals they don't use, just so they can use the benign ones like dormant oil, DE, and soap.

McGuinty has levelled the playing field for the lawn care industry, making things easier for the big boys (national and regional operators) by removing the chem-free competition.

I can't understand why the Organic Landscape Alliance supports the legislation.