David Suzuki Foundation urges retailers to stop selling toxic chemical pesticides

By: David Suzuki Foundation


Toronto – The David Suzuki Foundation released the results of a survey today that finds four major retailers in Canada have phased out or are in the process of phasing out toxic chemical lawn and garden pesticide products, while four others have no plans to do so. The Foundation asked eight residential lawn and garden product retailers about plans to discontinue sales of chemical pesticides.

“The switch to non-toxic gardening strategies is gaining momentum across Canada,” says Lisa Gue, health and environmental policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation. “Retailers can be part of the solution by discontinuing the sale of synthetic chemical pesticides and dedicating their shelf space to ecologically safer products.”

The survey found that by July 2009, RONA will join Home Depot and Loblaws in pulling chemical pesticides from its shelves. Loblaws was first to discontinue sales in 2003, while Home Depot recently announced plans for a phase out by the end of this year. Canadian Tire did not respond to the survey but has indicated through news reports that it will also phase out the sale of chemical pest control products – although a timeline has not been announced. Meanwhile, Home Hardware, Lowe’s, TruServ and Wal-Mart currently have no plans to stop selling chemical pesticides.

The survey is released just at the end of the David Suzuki Digs My Garden contest, which encouraged Canadians to eliminate toxic chemical products from their lawns and gardens. The entries showed that beautiful lawns and gardens can easily be achieved without the use of synthetic pesticides.

The David Suzuki Foundation supports provincial bans and is encouraging consumers to urge retailers in other provinces to voluntarily stop selling chemical lawn and garden pesticides. Only Ontario and Quebec have banned the sale of these products.

A fact sheet summarizing the survey results can be downloaded at: Stop Pesticides (PDF)

Media contact:
Lisa Gue
Health and Environmental Policy Analyst
David Suzuki Foundation
Office: (613) 594-5428
lgue@davidsuzuki.org

source: David Suzuki Foundation