homeowner applications...

[woodycrest]

This forum is excellent, i have learned a lot of fertilizing with organics and synthetics. There has been much discussion about laws, and regulations, and definitions. The laws are the laws, but do these laws also govern the homeowner?

I go to the local Canadian Tire store and there are shelves and shelves of fertilizer, bug killer, weed'n'feed, winterizer, fungicides, etc etc etc. A veritable chemical supermarket.

It seems to me that the 'uneducated' homeowner is more likely to use chemicals improperly than the trained professional.

From a 'big picture' perspective, does it make sense that the homeowner market would cause more damage to the environment thru improper use of chemicals, than the professional?
Assuming that was the case, would it not make sense to market 'organic' products to the general public rather than the chemicals?

Dave

[Green in Idaho]

Originally posted by woodycrest
From a 'big picture' perspective, does it make sense that the homeowner market would cause more damage to the environment thru improper use of chemicals, than the professional?
Assuming that was the case, would it not make sense to market 'organic' products to the general public rather than the chemicals?

Dave

I agree with you Dave, but the mentality of the masses is I want it green, and I want it green now. I want bugs dead, and dead now. Further, the general population was lost touch with the agricultural values of understaning an ecosystem and working within those systems. So the Home Depots are merely providing the product that is being demanded.

When someone (or a group) dies from XYZ and it makes the media in such way that it overrides the counter-punch the DuPonts of the world the general population will demand safer products. Until it becomes a soccer mom issue, or a financial issue it aint going to happen very fast. So instead it becomes a process of slow education.

As for ho vs professional. I agree ho are more likely to be offenders of bad practice but that one ho is only doing it 3 times per year rather a pro who may be doing it 30 times per day. It is also easier to regulate 100 pros than it is to regulate 1,000 ho. Unless EPA (or other agency) could restrict the products being sold. But that hit the bank accounts of the producers.

If one able to total up all the applications by pros and compare to all the applications by homeowners.... what would that look like? And then assume X% (I'll guess 20%) of the ho market is misapplying products while Y% (I'll guess 1%) of the pros are misapplying the product. The two results would be ____.

THAT would be interesting to see!