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.