Lawn Chemical Follow Up
I’ll give Trugreen credit. At least they responded to my recent inquiry:
Dear Mr. You Ask Too Many Questions:
Your email asking about the materials we use on lawns in the Memphis area was forwarded to me.
The materials we apply to your lawn will vary throughout the year. Your invoice will indicate what was applied each time and the end use concentration range.
The commonly used materials and what they control are listed below. The name in parentheses next to the Trade Name is the common chemical name.
The fertilizers we use consist of one or more of the following: urea, ammonium phosphate & potassium chloride.
The preemergent crabgrass control used in Memphis is Dimension (dithiopyr).
The preemergent Poa annua control used is Princep (simazine)
Broadleaf weed control depends on the weeds present and time of year. Materials include:
-TriPower (3 way combination of MCPA, mecoprop and dicamba)
-Corsair (chlorsulfuron)
-Manor (metsulfuron-methyl)
The postemergent crabgrass control used is MSMA (MSMA)
The nutsedge control used is Sedgehammer (halosulfuron)
If you have the Nuisance Pest Control service then Talstar (bifenthrin) is used.
I hope you find this information helpful. You can contact me if you have additional questions.
Sincerely,
Ed Solon
Thank you, Mr. Ed. I should tell you that I don’t have an “invoice” nor shall I ever have one.
I won’t depress everyone with a detailed analysis of all these poisons. Just a few comments.
Let’s take a look at TRI-POWER, a toxic soup comprised of MCPA, mecoprop and dicamba. Dicamba is listed by Pesticide Action Network of North America as as “PAN Bad Actor,” meaning it is either highly acutely toxic, a cholinesterase inhibitor, a known/probable carcinogen, a known groundwater pollutant, a known reproductive or developmental toxicant or it has any combination of these traits.
It contains 2,4-D and there’s all sorts of information about it on the web.
Noting aquatic ecotoxicity, the observed effect of dicamba with amphibians was death. Mecoprop had the same observed effect with fish, as well as other developmental effects and effects on populations.
Chlorsulfuron is listed as a PAN Bad Actor.
The real bad actor here isn’t an actor at all. It’s a real life boogeyman known as Trugreen. They’re basically greedy, liars. Liars willing to do whatever to make a profit, which includes lying to schools and possibly affecting the health of your children, not to mention the frogs.
I’m pleased to report I still have lots of weeds, including clover, that bothersome plant honeybees depend on. Also happy to report I have a yard full of honeybees, spiders and all sorts of crawling, hopping, flying, scurrying, burrowing things all over the place. But no Trugreen invoices.
Gosh, this stuff just depresses me. Thank God for blogs like this where I can voice my opinion and find other like minded people. Anyway, not to be cynical, but I wonder how much change we can really make happen. I know this is a bit off topic, but it really applies across the board with all these topics. I have a feeling people will either turn to the environmental movement, as long as it doesn’t get too slutted out by hollywood(of which I plan to become a part of, reluctantly). Like you say though, it’s about being the change you want to see. Tonight I rode 12 miles on my mountain bike to my friends house, and withstood a barrage of verbal assault by idiot motorists. Things like that make me keep pushing on. That and the fact, I refuse to ever let my Allegheny Mountains turn into what the southwest and southeast have turned into. Although, if it ever does I’m siding with the Seneca indians near my home town and burning tires. We’ve got to push the mainstream idea bout protececting the environment, but at the same time have little victories, such as getting my friend to start riding his newly bought Trek, to work instead of driving. Those are the events that provide hope in the seemingly hopeless venture, well that and Jesus!(kidding of course, you think a religion student believes that crap, hell no I’m with the Native Americans). Anyway, not to keep drooling on, it’s time to get our asses in gear. Not just solely, but as a collective group. For instance I plan to start an environmental film fest in this town. Bike protests and rallies are another way. Or as from the sounds of it, not raising your son to be a shithead like 90% college males. Anyway I’m done, drunk, and going to bed. Forgive any grammar, spelling and just plain errors in decency.
BTW, you should really post more. I enjoy reading, especially more that twice a month.
Sean, I deeply appreciate your post. It’s encouraging to me to see so many young, engaged folks that care about the world and are taking practical steps to improve things.
I had horrible nightmares last night. I was with my wife and trapped in a V for Vendetta/Good News panoptic future. Everyone was required to wear red and black. Only the “initiates” or those in higher standing were allowed the red coats. The whole place was ruled by a tyrannical, murdering liar.
Humans were rewarded occassional recreation based on acts of loyalty to the state. Otherwise, production for consumption.
The skies were always grey and other than red, the world was devoid of color.
Not sure what brought this on, perhaps too much Chardonnay or cheap Mexican beer.
Could such a world really exist? I’m not sure. The whole Peak Oil situation could easily lead to a collapse of financial markets. One analyst that writes for the Wall Street Journal, believes it could happen if oil hits $100 per barrel. Since I know little of such financial matters, I have no idea what the breaking point is, but I’m sure there is one, and it’s probably not far from that magical number.
If we reach that point, you can surely expect unrest and then our already trigger happy militarized police force moves into action.
That’s one scenario. Another one is that the informed 10% or less of the population expands, as well as the 1% or less that actually acts on the information.
Not many of us, I know, so that’s a real problem.
But as my friend Michael always reminds me, eventually, humans will have to fully return to some sort of sensibility or cease to exist. We’ll have to realize the cash economy is not king. Biological and geophysical reality ultimately rules the day.
We’re on the side of nature and nature always bats last. So, yeah. We’re losing battles left and right, but we’ll win the war.
And thanks for prod about writing. I think I’ll do a few pieces about my own experience in corporatedum, human freedom and balance.
I think you’re right, but the eventual submission to the idea that we don’t run the world is going to be a long hard process for many people. Things are going to get messy, so make sure you have your panniers packed up and a good supply of canned food hiding out somewhere. Seriously though, I do believe change will happen, but it’s probably going to take some catastrophic event for people to wake up and realize, and I’d rather it not get that far. Better to be safe than sorry. Nobody needs a 6000 sq/ft home and a brand new Expedition sitting in the drive way. I could just go on and on, so I won’t. Oh well, I guess the only thing to do is keep fighting on. Definitely throw a few more posts up every now and then though. – Sean.
As for being engaged, I think I have mentioned my activity in the Green Party here before and we go ’round and ’round about how to activate people. How can you make people who are so comfortable care enough make even the smallest of changes (like riding that new trek to work). Its difficult and at times very frustrating. Until people’s personal economies get a little more tenous, I think they will be content think of the environment as a nice hobby and think that seeing Al Gore’s movie is doing something.
I do enjoy reading the posts but the creepy dreams may keep me up at night.
Bike question for you, I’m looking to build my very first bike. I have a road bike and mountain bike, but I want one for transpo only. Do you think it’s better to go with an old road bike steel frame, or a mountain bike frame. I’m still trying to decide, what do you think is the best way to go? Either way I’m sticking with steel frame, it might be heavy, but its tough.
Sean, regarding the bike question…
I retrofitted my old Stumpjumper with hybrid tires to make traveling on the pavement a little easier. It’s heavy, however, so after riding that Bianchi around, I feel like I’m on a Sherman Tank.
I got a really efficient bike rack that attaches to the seat post for the Bianchi. I can take it on or off as necessary. Just clip the panniers on.
Of course there are cross bikes, bikes that are sort of inbetween a roadie and a MB. But I think you can retrofit what you have and make either work. It’s really a matter of personal preference.
If you want to build and start from scratch, I’d get a touring bike frame. It’s not a racer, but it’s not as heavy as a MB frame. Much more suitable for long treks. To get an idea, Trek and Cannondale both make pretty slick touring bikes. I’m sure they have them online. Your local bike shop should be able to hook you up with a good frame.
You know, I never thought about having them(bike shop) buy a frame. That’s a great idea. However, I kinda like the idea of dumpster diving for an old frame that needs a good home. I’m still undecided. The school(UNCW) has a ton of really nice mountain bikes chained up still from the semester and I think they just take them after a few months. I should try to see if I can get anything from them first. This bike is on a budget, so an older frame is better. I’m heading back to NY for a week and hoping to find something while I’m there before I’m off to Alaska. I’ll keep you updated.