Boulder City, Colorado has just become the first locality in the state to pass a comprehensive resolution banning the use of bee- and butterfly-killing neonicotinoids.
As reported by Beyond Pesticides, the resolution was successful primarily due to the efforts of grassroots activists, especially a local organization called Bee Safe Boulder. City officials also ended up supporting the ban.
David Wheeler, co-founder of the Bee Safe Boulder stated:
“We at Bee Safe Boulder, along with city staff and elected city council members, believe that this resolution will become the go-to template for other local governments with similar aspirations in the near future.”
This and other efforts, like the $450-million, class-action suit filed against Syngenta and Bayer by thousands of bee-keepers and honey-makers in Canada, are what keep biotech from destroying our food supply entirely. If you haven’t already read, Natural Society has listed just some of the hundreds of foods we would lose without the bees.
Colony collapses in Oregon and other states have been linked repeatedly to the use of harmful biotech chemicals like neonicotinoids and glyphosate.
A study by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for example, has labeled the pesticide clothianidin as completely unacceptable for use, and banned it from use entirely. Meanwhile, the U.S. uses the same pesticide on more than a third of its crops – nearly 143 million acres. Two more pesticides linked to bee death are imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam. These are also used extensively in the US, while elsewhere, they have been completely banned.
Thankfully, more communities and individuals are realizing the dire impact this class of pesticides can have on our ecosystem. Even Lowe’s, one of the US’s largest home improvement and gardening supply stores, has plans to stop selling products containing ‘neonics,’ largely in response to activist pressure.
The makers of neonicotinoids such as Syngenta and Bayer will have to sell their toxic chemicals elsewhere. Hopefully other municipalities will decide to ban neonics as well, as this small town in Colorado has done successfully.
Photo credit: (Mark Leffingwell / Staff Photographer – DailyCamera)
Christina Sarich is a humanitarian and freelance writer helping you to Wake up Your Sleepy Little Head, and See the Big Picture. Her blog is Yoga for the New World. Her latest book is Pharma Sutra: Healing the Body And Mind Through the Art of Yoga.
TLB recommends you visit Natural Society for more great/pertinent articles.
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