Poisons and Toxins .....all over the place
 

So many times I read how residents just spray, pour, paint, spread glyphosate, roundup, and other horrible stuff all over the place. And then our animals walk over the walkways/grass and carry it into our homes on their paws, onto the furniture and beds....... Then they lick their paws to clean them. Does anyone think about alternatives? No wonder there is so much cancer, allergies, stiffness, etc. Anyone have better options for lawn care, cleaning, etc.? Thanks.

wrap yourself in bubble wrap and never leave the house that should work

It's all for naught, if you don't wrap your head in tin foil.

Keep your dog out of my landscaping. Keep you dog off the furniture. Stop buying into the hysteria.

Saran Wrap party? Violates the Loufer Code in deed restrictions!

You are referring to "residents" doing this, my questions is why are allowing your dog to walk on their lawns? Also you mentioned you "read" how this is happening, does that mean you have never really witnessed it?

Hey! Why are your animals walking on private grass? Did you not think people would be too angry about that, to answer your question?

You could volunteer to hand weed there yards:eclipsee_gold_cup:

According to the EPA, Roundup and glyphosate do not cause cancer.

Could wash dogs paws before reentering house.

Oh my, I think I best not wade into the astonishing amount of denial on this thread. In the 21st century, I wouldn't have guessed it would still be running so deep.

--- Signed, Child whose father died (brain cancer) 20 years sooner than he should have because of the KNOWN (to management - DuPont) cancer-producing chemicals being pumped into the air and water where he worked.

Their complicity, eventually, resulted in one of the largest class action lawsuit in American history because 1000s were killed or seriously harmed by those known carcinogens.

(But, you all keep making fun of exposure to chemicals primarily policed only by the chemical producers themselves. SMH!)

Not saying I totally disagree but Attorneys might dispute this.......


Roundup Settlement: 2024 Roundup Weed Killer Settlement Updates

Might want to
 

May want to stay out of my lawn then. It’s loaded with all kinds of things. But then I’m sure you aren’t one of the rude ones who lets their dog into my corner lot. Respect my hard work on the lawn and your animal has no problems. I do spray all the way up to the curb too.

Well said MightyDog, thank you. Just this week there was a story about more and more young people getting cancer. My husband has to see a hematologist monthly, at his appointment this past week there were two very young men with brain tumors waiting for treatment.

Chemicals......can't live with them and can't live without them.

Regarding walking the dog.......We don't have a dog now but we were dog owners for over 30 years. Neither one of our dogs ever set paw on another person's property. We had a brick walkway to the dog's potty area from our house back door. We always walked the dogs on a leash so they would not "go" anywhere on our lawn. The potty area was surrounded by bricks and in the center we had shredded mulch. That was so nice an soft for the dog's paws. No chemicals were ever sprayed onto the potty area mulch. We did take the dogs for walks in the streets, on sidewalks or the "woods" on a path in NJ. (THAT NJ path was nice).

As it should be
 

Proof that not everyone is self centered and rude. I put around 75 dollars a month just in chemicals and treatments on our lawn. It looks good for a reason. It sure as heck isn’t for a doggy toilet.

I am sorry about you father. I understand how painful this is for you, I think.

When it comes to “denial” about chemicals, you’ve heard of the boy who cried “Wolf!” too often. Most people are not chemical researchers. They hear this and then they hear the opposite from another source. It is hard to know who to believe.

Nature kills you, natural things kill you. Who invented tuberculosis, malaria, think of any disease? Most occur naturally in places where there are no chemical industries to blame in the first place. Why is life expectancy so much shorter in countries with very little industrialization?

Then there is individual sensitivity, look at peanuts, for example. People with peanut energy can die from just breathing them. But peanuts serve as nourishment to many others. So should peanuts be banned from the many on the basis of the very few truly allergic? The answers vary.

Interesting....so we want to lay the blame at the feet of ‘chemical producers’ only. Lawn and garden treatments....how about when you go to a Publix and buy your GMO produced, antibiotic and steroid laden foods....and $6 foot longs .....shop at and brush your teeth with Chinese toothpaste from Dollar Tree...fill your FDA approved BioPharma produced poisons....errr prescriptions at CVS.....see where I’m going with this?
We’re all touched by cancer in our circle of family and friends.....but we’re all ‘complicit’ under your definitions if you choose one of the above for convenience and economics vs doing what’s right across the board?(impossible).....and ranting about what others do as if you’re practicing a totally holistic existence, is less than candid on its face. Public shaming rarely moves the needle.

Thanks. There has been a stunning rise in cancers (many of them of a turbo nature) in the last three years.

It is widely documented and, yes, many people much younger than typical are getting them -- as well as heart inflammation problems (myocarditis). It is not a mystery as to why this is happening - it's just that there is deep denial about that as well. Because many people were directly and repeatedly exposed to those specific chemicals in the past three years and they now live in fear, understandably.

Look, I'm a freedom lover and defender. If people want to slave over their lawns, so be it. But, I do particularly find denial irritating and to believe that routinely dousing your own property in strong chemicals doesn't affect others it simply nuts. Rain and the run-off it produces sends those chemicals to many other properties. Wind factors too. That is reality.

Fwiw, I'll mention reading about the recent results of a study about possible triggers of ALS (hideous, fatal disease). The study found a higher ratio of people who developed ALS were gardeners and professional athletes of sports played on lawns. The possible conclusion being that it was because of the extra exposure to chemicals being used. Not crazy. Articles about that study can be found online.

Ecosystem
 

Nothing can be done. If you get your irrigation water from a retention pond, you get all sorts of chemicals from that pond, not just immediate run off. Roads adjacent carry water off the street into the ponds. Hence, when those sprinklers turn on for your lawn, you get it all. Your lawn is doused in street run off, pesticide etc and there is no control on what you get on that grass of yours.

Understood. So, let us all not be in-denial of the exposure itself and the large amount of it.

Then, we all can make our own choices about how to live accordingly.

I have my lawn treated with chemicals to keep the establishment and neighbors off my back by having a decent looking yard. I pay for pest control and they spray around my home to keep millions of bugs out of my house. Without chemicals, we would all be either paying a fortune for food because there would be a lot less to go around. We use chemicals to treat our water to kill harmful germs and parasites. They spray chemicals in The Villages at night to kill harmful mosquitoes. I respect the Amish and their way of life, but that life is not for me.
Like someone else said, rather than complain to me about chemicals in my yard, just stay off my property and we will both be happier.

Animal Ownership
 

Other people’s animals health and well being is their problem and responsibility not mine.

Keep your dog off my property. And if your dog is in your bed and on your furniture that’s your problem!

Absolutely, and what is preventing you from living somewhere in the mountains hundreds of miles from where people may be using chemicals you don’t approve of?

Massive reading comprehension fail. That occurs too often on these threads and I don't get why. Some people aren't very clear in their writing but, I go out of my way to be exceedingly so. And I have been here.

The percentage of uninformed, in-denial and, frankly, selfish types is very unfortunate. All about Old #1. Some things never change.

I think most of us on this forum are beyond the age where we have to worry about premature death. We lived through decades from the 40's until today with exposure to all kinds of chemicals in our food, the air, and water. Some from our generation died young, most have not and genetics has a lot to do with it also. I know several families, including my own, that have had multiple generational deaths due to a specific type of cancer.

When I see something like that I immediately google What was the largest class action lawsuit in American history? 1998, Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, etc., $206 billion. Tobacco settlement. Just saying.

And, while we're on the topic of danger, I started reading a book called Overpowered. Haven't finished it yet, but the author, who seems very well educated, says there are many scientific studies demonstrating that electromagnetic radiation (i.e., cell phones) is harmful.

Ever hear of Green Bank, WV? People move there to escape pesky radio signals.

1. Anyone worried about pesticides and weed killers on other peoples' lawns, should stop letting their dogs walk on other peoples' lawns.
2. Anyone worried about it on their own lawns, can have a talk with their landscaper/pest control person, OR do the work themselves with non-toxic substances (or by hand). There are plenty of ways to kill fire ants, weevils, aphids, cockroaches, and weeds, that don't involve Monsanto.
3. Encourage, rather than shame, others into weeding their own flower-beds by hand. It can be a very rewarding activity if you're physically capable of repeat bending/standing for an hour every week.
4. Encourage people to leave the bugs in the garden alone. If they're in the garden, it means they're not in your house.

I don't think it is possible to live in Florida, or the South, without using treatments of some kind or another. There is, of course, a natural way of keeping bugs out of your home and yard and that means you have snakes and spiders. I am very aware of the chemicals and I am also very wary of snakes and spiders, so I take the easy way out and have my property treated and hope like hell that I am too tough to succumb to some dreadful sickness in my dotage. However, I have watched the begging infomercials from the children's hospitals and have thought that there are so many young children with cancer and you name it.

Well you are entitled to your opinion, just as the rest of us are.

So - the insecticide doesn't prevent insects from being there. It just kills them after the fact. So you have some dead insects. Easy pickings for spiders, which now are poisoned by the poisoned dead insects. Snakes don't eat insects, or spiders. But they do eat mice and other rodents, birds, occasionally lizards, and they consider turtle eggs a delicacy. Many of THOSE things will eat dead insects. And then THEY will be poisoned by those poisoned dead insects. And then the snakes will be poisoned by the poisoned dead rodents, birds, and tainted eggs. And then the birds of prey and carrion birds such as hawks and vultures will eat those snakes, and become poisoned. And then - and then - and then - until the food chain has to rely on Monsanto to fix all the problems that they caused by poisoning the food chain.

We can't prevent it without going back to the 1700's, and devolution is bad (contrary to popular belief). But we can each play some small part in delaying the inevitable conclusion. Weeding your garden by hand is one small thing many people can do. Learning to live with snakes and spiders in your own garden is another small thing many people can do. Planting flowers and herbs that attract pollinators is another small thing many people can do. Using natural fertilizer is another thing. Finding some organic food that you enjoy, and supporting that instead of supporting mega-farms that thrive on chemicals is another thing. Buying eggs from local small farmers instead of egg factories that torture their chickens is another thing.

If everyone picked one thing they could improve on, it'd make a big impact.

Attorneys would sue wooden Indian if they thought they could get wooden nickel. :highfive:

Some people should have stayed in apartments. Can’t handle owning property.:)

Better living through chemicals is my motto!

Same here. Gotta keep my weeds green. The grass never had a chance.

There are natural lawn care options but I can't tell you from recent experience how they work. I can tell you about 15 years ago we used a non toxic bug spray on our yard that smelled like cloves. It worked for a while. We had dogs at the time. The yard smelled so good afterward. But then it wasn't working as well. Maybe now there are better or improved options, I'm not sure. For weeds some people use vinegar but it can kill other plants and grass if sprayed on them.

There are many natural cleaners today. I like Mrs. Meyers cleaning products. They are available at Walmart. I've used their laundry detergent and household cleaner. Both smell so good. Try Amazon, or a google search for other natural and organic cleaners. Some people use vinegar for cleaning. I use alcohol or peroxide to clean mirrors. Peroxide in sink areas and fixtures in the bathroom. But be careful with peroxide, read up on it. I do use bleach but not as heavily as I used to.

Houseplants help clean the air in your home, as would an air filter.

I know this doesn't change the world, but it can help your little corner a bit.

EDIT: I get everything on-line. I don't know if Walmart has Mrs. Meyers products in store or only on-line.

We're all going to die, chicken little.
Please be aware, these chemicals have been specifically reviewed by the EPA, in context of tests relevant to carcinogenesis, birth defects etc. etc. etc.
Part of the Villages appeal is the presentation - trees/flowers/lawns - and this is maintained by both labor and chemicals. If you're so worried, you should not be in the Villages..

In walking my dog, I have noted quite a few dead baby snakes lying along the curb. No apparent injuries. I can only surmise that the amount of pesticides we put on our lawns (myself included) plays a part. Biomagnification in action.