Month: April 2018

EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticides

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by Damian Carrington, The Guardian, 4/27/18

The world’s most widely used insecticides will be banned from all fields within six months, to protect both wild and honeybees that are vital to crop pollination

The European Union will ban the world’s most widely used insecticides from all fields due to the serious danger they pose to bees.

The ban on neonicotinoids, approved by member nations on Friday, is expected to come into force by the end of 2018 and will mean they can only be used in closed greenhouses.

Bees and other insects are vital for global food production as they pollinate three-quarters of all crops. The plummeting numbers of pollinators in recent years has been blamed, in part, on the widespread use of pesticides. The EU banned the use of neonicotinoids on flowering crops that attract bees, such as oil seed rape, in 2013.

But in February, a major report from the European Union’s scientific risk assessors (Efsa) concluded that the high risk to both honeybees and wild bees resulted from any outdoor use, because the pesticides contaminate soil and water. This leads to the pesticides appearing in wildflowers or succeeding crops. A recent study of honey samples revealed global contamination by neonicotinoids….

read more at The Guardian

More than 150 take part in Earth Day demonstration in West Chester

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By Bill Rettew, Daily Local News, 4/22/18

WEST CHESTER >> Mother Nature couldn’t have smiled more brilliantly on 150 Earth Day demonstrators participating in the “March for the Environment” Sunday in the borough.

Sunny skies and temperatures in the high 60s embraced those supporting sustainable energy, a healthy environment and preservation of the environment, at the historic Chester County courthouse steps Sunday afternoon.

Holding up signs while chanting loudly, the group of Earth Day supporters marched seven blocks down High Street to the Unitarian Congregation where organizations passed out literature and cookies, and both adults and kids lined up to color reusable bags with crayons. …

read more and see photos at Daily Local News

Photos by don’t Spray Me!:


The march down S. High St. starts out


In the Unitarian Congregation: info tables, activities, food by West Chester Co-operative…

March for the Environment #2 on Earth Day, April 22, 2018

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March for the Environment-2

We did it last year, with 200 attendees, great speeches and an effective march. Now we are aiming for at least 100 more people to rally and march in West Chester on Earth Day, April 22!

You could say Chester County is lucky to have preserved so much open space, to have a consensus to prioritize clean air and water, to build parks and trails, and to promote renewable energy. Or, you could say residents, municipalities, county government, non-profits, and foundations have worked really hard at it.

Members of all participating groups, and all concerned citizens, please join us to reaffirm our determination to protect air, water, climate, vulnerable species, open space, and human health! And be part of bringing many groups together with added strength to celebrate Earth Day and our environment, in 2018 and beyond!

download full 8.5X11″ flyer here, please print, and distribute to friends: March for Envt 18

Sunday, April 22, 1:00pm – 3:00pm, in 3 locations:

• Rally at the Historic Court House, 2 North High St., West Chester. At 1pm, we will gather to listen to speakers, including: PA State Representative (156th district) Carolyn Comitta; West Chester Mayor Dianne Herrin; Open Space Advocate and Southeast PA Sierra Club Executive Committee Member Ken Hemphill; and former West Chester Mayor Jordan Norley. Rev. Dan Schatz, Minister of the Unitarian Congregation, West Chester, will perform environmentally-oriented songs. Claire Witzleben of CCAG will be master of ceremonies.

• March for the Environment down the sidewalk of South High St. displaying signs and banners

• At the Unitarian Congregation, 501 S. High St., wrap-up session, final statements, environmental petitions and attendee list, tables with participants’ info, refreshments by West Chester Co-op, tree dedication, child-oriented activities (coloring postcards, decorating reusable shopping bags, potting small trees to plant at home), etc., till about 3 p.m.

organizing groups:
Don’t Spray Me!
Sierra Club
Concerned Constituents Action Group (CCAG)

cosponsors:
Barclay Grounds Preservation Alliance (BGPA)
Chester County Citizens for Climate Protection (4CP)

Citizens Climate Lobby – Chester County group
Del-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety
Food and Water Watch
PennEnvironment
PennFuture
Ready for 100 Chester County
Unitarian Congregation of West Chester
West Chester Co-operative
West Chester Friends School

If you drive, park in parking garages or on the street as permitted.

A view of last year’s March for the Environment in West Chester:



This photo by Bill Rettew is reproduced with permission from “Hundreds rally in West Chester to support the environment,” Daily Local News, 4/29/17.

download full 8.5X11″ flyer here, please print, and distribute to friends: March for Envt 18

Nostalgia Department – from the first Earth Day march in Philadelphia, 1970 (photo kindly supplied by Jeff Cantwell, who is all the way on the right, in line with the banner):