Today’s Earth Day message is brought to you on behalf of honey bees and dogs. In the spring humans go through great lengths trying to have the “perfect” lawn. However, have you stopped to consider how imperfect perfection is, and what harm it is doing to the environment? By covering lawns and gardens in pesticides and other chemicals there are longterm consequences on honey bees and dogs! 

Unfortunately, there are multiple ways honey bees can be killed by pesticides used on lawns and gardens. One is direct contact with the chemicals while the bee is foraging for pollen. The honey bee immediately dies and does not return to the hive. Another and more deadly way is the bee comes in contact with a pesticide and inadvertently brings it back to the hive, either as contaminated pollen or on its body. Overtime this poison can build up in their food source, and cause large scale death and even the collapse of the entire honey bee colony. 

The same dangers also hold true for dogs. Dogs obviously don’t purposely collect pollen. Yet when a dog rolls around in a lawn treated in pesticides, or explores a garden covered in insecticides, he’s picking up whatever residues remain on the grass and flowers from chemical treatments. Those chemicals on the fur and paws are then easily ingested from something as simple as a lick, or by chewing on a tennis ball that rolled through the grass. In addition, because dogs are close to the ground, they are more likely to inhale toxic fumes. 

Also as with the bees, dogs can easily track these chemicals into their homes where it is ground into carpeting, on furniture, and other places that dogs like to hang out. Because pesticides break down fastest when exposed to sunlight and water, they can linger indoors for years. In fact, according to the Pesticide Education Center, indoor levels of pesticides can rise much higher than outside levels, thus increasing dogs’ exposure to these toxins. 

Now unlike honey bees, it is rare that a dog will suddenly drop dead from exposure to these chemicals. However, exposure can cause symptoms such as skin rashes, nausea and vomiting, eye irritations, and respiratory problems. In addition, numerous studies have shown a connection between cancer in dogs and the prolonged exposure to pesticides used on lawns and gardens. Studies have also shown the dangers of lawn chemicals on wildlife as well.

So you have to ask yourself is it really worth having the “perfect” lawn? Dandelions, clover and many other “weeds” provide important nutrients to honey bees. Also dogs don’t care if there is crabgrass where they are playing. So before you pick up that bottle of Roundup, or spread that bag of weed killer, please consider using organic alternatives. This includes horticultural and insecticidal soaps, vinegar-based herbicides, essential oil-based pesticides, and biological-based pesticides. Therefore this Earth Day we ask that you lend a helping paw to honey bees and dogs by embracing a natural, perfect “imperfect” lawn.