by Arlington Organic Club Newsletter
http://www.aogc.org/effpest.htm
Picture: This photo shows a sign in a local neighborhood where using pesticides on lawns is prohibited. If more people would adopt this policy, pollution would be severely decreased.
Article: This link talks about the alternate ways you can prevent bugs on your lawn and in your garden without the use of harmful pesticides. Although the article focuses mainly on gardens, many of these same measures can be taken to prevent bugs on your lawn as well. There are several different methods used. First, you could try using water on certain areas as a natural pesticide. This works against many aphids and spiders. Also, try and diversify the different kinds of plants you have in one area. This helps prevent a large amount of one type of insect overrunning an area. You also should regularly tend to your lawn and garden to prevent weeds. The most damage-inflicting critters often are only found in areas which are untended and overgrown.
Reflection
This idea sounds really good to me. Although it focuses mainly on gardens and not on lawns, I think that's a good thing. Gardens are a more environmentally-friendly use of space than lawns are anyway, except for the use of pesticides they cause. I think if more people followed these ideas, our environment would be fundamentally healthier.
Questions:
1) What are some things that could go wrong with this plan?
2) How affective do you think this could be?
3) Can you think of any other ways to prevent insects without using pesticides?
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteI always wondered about this while we were doing this in class. Are there truly any ways to cut the use of pesticides and fertilizers? Apparently so! This is a really cool idea. If everybody found out that there were alternatives that harmed to planet SO much less, I bet we would have a safer, less polluted planet. Also, it’s not like these procedures of preventing bugs from your garden or lawn are taxing. There are simple, effective ways of, practically, saving the environment. I am not sure if we use pesticides on our garden, but if we do, I will use some of these tips to try and keep the bugs away. Now that I think about it, our lettuce has been pretty chewed upon.... anyways, good article, Navester!
What are some things that could go wrong with this plan?
Some people may find this plan less convenient than using pesticides. With pesticides, all one must do is spray the garden down a few times and then watch as their beautiful veggies grow. Also, when thinking abut the environment, usually people don’t think just they will make a difference. If they only knew how much one person could do for the environment, everything would work out.
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteI think its great that someone wrote and article about this! I never would have thought that these tasks would help keep away pests. If people would attempt to do some or all of these ten things, then i bet the environment could be greatly helped. Personally, I have never had a garden, so i can not really relate to this article. But, i can imagine that gardening is enjoyable but hard work. I think many people use pesticides because of how easy it is. Also, i dont think many people know about these ten simple tasks that will keep away pesticides and help the environment, so instead they use pesticides which they know are affective. If people were to learn about these ten tasks, I think they actually might use them.
Can you think of any other ways to prevent insects without pesticides?
I found another article that talks about preventing pests in gardens without using pesticides. Some of their ideas are to not sprinkle your gardens in the morning and try to avoid fertilizing in the summer. To learn more tips click this link: http://www.dryclimategardening.com/Articles/Articles/tabid/61/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/82/Lawn-care-Some-tips-for-preventing-pests-and-disease-WITHOUT-using-pesticides.aspx
Opinon/Reflection
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm definitely not a gardener, so when I read these tips I was pretty surprised. Normally when we think of pesticides, we have to decide whether or not we want to sacrifice spraying our lawn/gardens with harmful chemicals, or having bugs destroy our beautiful gardens. With some of these suggestions, you can eliminate both of these problems. Though having a diverse amount of plants could bring many foreign bugs to an area, and if someone gets bitten by one of these bugs, they could have an allergic reaction (coming from me who's allergic to everything!). But these methods should be suggested to every household before they consider buying harmful pesticides!
2) How affective do you think this could be?
I definitely thing these methods have potential, but trying to water away our pests doesn't seem like a solid idea. Even though it rains, bugs don't exactly go away. This is why simply trying to water the bugs or arachnids to death would not work. Sadly, if we try watering away arachnids, we would be getting rid of the best bug wranglers we have! You never know until you try, so why not give it a go? I checked out Rachel's link, and I definitely think the tips of preventing pests would be more affective since they are trying to stop the problems before they start.
Reflection:
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great way to prevent some of the pollution going on. The earth needs all the help it can get. Since pestices are such a big issue it should be prevented. Plants bring in many bugs which can be good for the plants, but sometimes they are not welcome. These methods should be considered worl wide so we can help our planet.
Question 2
I think this method has a lot of potential. It uses organic materials which are great alternatives. I agree with Dianna. Flooding out bugs does not seem like the best idea. I would feel bad washing them away. I also think flooding them out would pick up different pollutants and flood them into other water ways.