Applewood Acres Gardening & Landscaping Sounds Alarm Over Risk Associated With Pesticide Use.

Toronto, Canada – Recently, Richard Brzakala, Owner of Applewood Acres Gardening & Landscaping discussed the continued dangers and risks associated with pesticide use.

Brzakala, a strong proponent of organic lawn care and gardening, sites a government report issued as far back as Oct 2002 which pointed out that there is increasing evidence in the marketplace that suggests that professional chemical companies use far more lawn care pesticides then homeowners and that as far back as 1991 studies in Ontario showed that chemical lawn care companies were using three times more herbicides and almost 40% more insecticide per hectare per year than home owners who apply products themselves. “What this tells us is that chemical companies have become the prime culprits in contaminating our living spaces,” says Brzakala.

Brzakala states that “ the city of Toronto did a survey back in 2002 which indicated that residents with larger lawns are more likely to hire lawn care companies to manage their property. Yet the survey also indicated that hiring a lawn care chemical company greatly increased the chances that pesticides would be applied.”

Respondents to the survey at that time were six times more likely to have their lawns treated with chemical pesticides than those who managed the property themselves.

“ While the public consciousness has changed with respect to the environment, it still has a long way to go in creating stricter legislation and bylaws about banning pesticides, “ says Brzakala.

Brzakala contends that many chemical companies are “manipulating local bylaws by re-branding their products as environmentally safe, or advertising that so called trained professionals, who they portray as experts in application, perform their services”.

“The public at large in most cases are still wooed into believing that they are doing the right thing by hiring these chemical companies”, says Brzakala. He goes on to say that “just because some guy is trained to pull a hose around someone’s property and know how to turn on and off a valve in a spraying truck, doesn’t mean that the product they are applying is risk free and not going to adversely impact your help” .

Many times the same risky and poisonous chemicals are applied under a different name or product to fool the consumer into thinking that they are using a safe product when in fact it continues to remain risky and dangerous to their health and the environment, contends Brzakala.

Ultimately, if a chemical company , professing to be using organic products, ends their visit by posting a sign on your lawn, you can be assured that they have just finished spraying a toxic chemical. Brzakala urges consumers in those instances to rethink their service arrangements and seek out an organically safe service provider.

Consumers need to educate themselves and get in touch with such groups as Pesticide Free Ontario and the Organic Landscape Alliance to better understand the dangers associated with pesticide use.

There are organic and safe alternatives out there. The may cost a little more, or require some patience as far as results are concerned, but they do work and are safe.

At the end of the day, everyone should make the time to do a little homework about what is being used on one’s lawn. If your kids and pet’s play and roll around on your lawn, don’t you think that it’s important to know what your lawn care provider is pouring onto it? It should never simply be a question of cost, but a question of responsibility and taking the time to educate yourself as a consumer with definitive answers and not be swayed by slick advertising and ambiguous language.

For more information on Applewood please visit their website www.applewoodacres.org

Applewood Acres Gardening & Landscaping (Applewood Property Management) OR “Applewood” is located in Mississauga, Ontario. Applewood is comprised of professionals with over twenty years of experience focusing primarily on residential and small to medium sized commercial corporate projects offering property management, residential and commercial repair services and a full suite of landscaping, organic and natural lawn care and gardening services. Applewood is a privately owned business, that has in the past volunteered its services and offered generous financial assistance and support to a number of environmentally conscious organizations and social charitable organizations. Most recently, Applewood has contributed financial assistance to the High Park Initiatives Fund donated its services and workers to onsite building projects for Habitat For Humanity as well as local community organizations and schools. For more information on Applewood and its services please visit their website www.applewoodacres.org or email Applewood at applewoodacresgl@rogers.com