Walks

We have been walking about 6 kilometres a day lately. Earlier this week a number of our neighbours who have lawn services had their lawns sprayed with pesticides. I am not upset with them for using the pesticides, to each their own, and some have corner lots that have lots of weeds that the wind carries over to their lawn. The lawn service companies on the other hand were spraying on a windy day, in the middle of the day. Alyssa, Sam and I were out walking and the smell was overwhelming. It burnt my eyes and made my chest hurt and got heavy. Our neighbour who is a respiratory therapist saw us out walking and advised me to not open our windows and not have Alyssa outside. Apparently sprays should only be used early in the morning when there is still dew on the ground. The smell was so overwhelming you could smell it inside our house (and the windows were not open, even before they came to spray). I called our town to see if there are any bylaws against spraying, or stating times of day that spraying is allowed and unfortunately there are no such bylaws. I guess we have to wait until next year when the pesticide ban (hopefully) starts. From what I've read online the lawn service companies find it difficult to operate since various municipalities have their own bylaws regarding pesticide use and they welcome an Ontario-wide guideline.

Also on our walks I have noticed the number of people who speed around town. Personally I don't speed in town for fear of hurting myself or children who may be playing and run out in to the street unexpectedly. The Oshawa Police had a great idea detailed in this article. Maybe the police in our area should try that with the number of people who speed in the school zone, while on their cell phones, rushing to pick up or drop off their children.