DOT poisoning us all

[ladyapple27]

I had a meeting with one of my instructors. On the way to town, I got behind an North Carolina Department of transportation pickup with a Caution: Frequent Stops sign on the tailgate. I didn't realize what the driver was doing until he pulled over at a stop sign and shot a HUGE stream of weed killer at the ground around the sign. He didn't even have to get off his rear; the truck was rigged so that he could sit there and spray the chemicals out the window.  "Look at me-I can poison the Earth while sitting on my rearend!"

Really, shouldn't citizens be consulted before toxins are sprayed along the roadways? What about the poor animals exposed to this stuff? A few weeds aren't going to hurt anything, but these chemicals may kill us.

On another note, it's dogwood blooming season. As I drove along, I saw whole sections of diseased trees with brown, withered messes where the snowy blooms should be. It's time to wake up-the dogwoods can't bloom, the hemlocks are dying, even the oaks have a new disease. We've changed the Earth and not for the better.

The beauty of this place used to take your breath away. Now the destruction does.   

Comments

[eqfe.livejournal.com]

Its a pet peave of mine, the amount of unnessary chemicals released on public property. But I've been in worse situations. On flights coming back from the tropics, pesticides are release in the passenger cabin to make sure we are not carry back bad bugs. I don't want to think about how many times that has happened to me.

[ladyapple27.livejournal.com]

I'd never heard of that! Awful.

I did know that they fumigate cargo containers from countries like China.

[brak55.livejournal.com]

Our neighbors hate us. We refuse to use any pesticides on our yard because of the animals (squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, birds, etc.). We'll do what we can naturally, but we don't sweat it if it's not House Beautiful perfect.

[eqfe.livejournal.com]

You mean that you are not one of those people who let their children and pets play on lawns covered with those little poison flags.

[ladyapple27.livejournal.com]

Some ignoramases think that those little warning flags are a status symbol.

[ladyapple27.livejournal.com]

There should be more people like you. I don't like the House Beautiful look. Perfection is overrated. Nature isn't manicured, and it's gorgeous. People have embraced a twisted idea of beauty.

A healthy environment is beautiful.

Remember back in the day when lawns had clover mixed with the grass? Bees buzzed everywhere.

I'm a professional grower, and people are shocked because I've allowed part of my land to stay wild. My friend Karissa, who runs Fern Valley Nursery, does the same.