Nolan Robert

Hey all.

So my dad has these guys come to our house to mow the lawn. I thought it would be a good idea to have them put the grass clippings in these buckets so that I could use them for mulch.

I just realized that they mow other people's lawns as well, and that most people use herbicides/pesticides on their lawns, and my grass clippings were in the same lawn mower bag that those peoples grass would be in.

So in your opinion do you think that my lawns grass clippings are still o.k. to use? Or is there a high possibility that they have been contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals from the other folks grass having been in these guys' lawn mower?

Thanks in advance!

Doug Hollman wrote: . I refuse to use the stuff but out foreman is trained in herbicides and waits till I leave. Try to influence people instead if turning down a good opportunity. Poisons are everywhere, in our soil in our rain in our air. Simply boycotting wont do anything. We have to educate others to make a difference. Good luck.

My friend told me to tell the store that I don't feel comfortable using pesticides/herbicides, but I feel like if I say that then they might not consider me for employment.

I agree about the poisons being everywhere.

Thanks for the reply!

Those are really good ideas. Thanks for the replies!

I'm not the most outspoken person, and I wouldn't want to piss off the owner by harming his sales. I worry that I might not know enough to inform people of alternatives. I like to think I know a fair amount, but I would hate to give out ineffective information or something. Might make the store loom bad.

Hey all.

I'm looking for a job and there is a place a few block from my house that sells garden supplies. I garden, try to learn as much as I can about agriculture, etc. and the guy that owns the store also teaches classes at the community center about sustainable agriculture. They also, like most garden stores, have a lot of pesticides and herbicides and such, which I'm not very comfortable being around.

So on the one hand, it would be a job where I could work doing something that I actually have an interest in and enjoy (gardening/agriculture)

But on the other hand, I would probably have to be dealing with dangerous products quite often (peoples' main response to problems in life seems to be to just nuke the problem with something: RAID, round up, missiles, etc. so I bet they sell a lot of pesticides/herbicides)

Does anyone here work at a garden store/center and have/had the same concerns?

What have you done about it if so?

Thanks!

Julie Bernhardt wrote:I asked about radiation when I bought my 2013 Prius. The dealer and my husband both laughed at me.

That sucks

What was the concern?
The battery?

Chris Lyons wrote:

Nolan Robert wrote:

Chris Lyons wrote:Not a stupid question at all, but an interesting one! If dust or radioactive particles landed on or were transferred to the book it could become radioactive.

Interesting. It was from an old sports academy or gymnasium or something. I doubt it was anywhere near chernobyl but the thought did cross me and my brothers mind! I'm thinking that even if it was radioactive, it would probably be less than a microwave or cellular phone or something.

These are different types of radiation. Microwave and cell phones radiate electromagnet radiation i.e. radio waves. Radio waves may affect tissue by heating. The type of radiation emitted by radioactive material is called Ionizing Radiation. Ionizing Radiation has enough energy to strip electrons from atoms. Ionizing Radiation from the decay of radioactive materials emits sub atomic particles that depending on the type of particle can penetrate tissue and cause damage.

Yikes! Well hopefully the book is fine to be around.

I remember this stuff vaguely from high school science class

Chris Lyons wrote:Not a stupid question at all, but an interesting one! If dust or radioactive particles landed on or were transferred to the book it could become radioactive.

Interesting. It was from an old sports academy or gymnasium or something. I doubt it was anywhere near chernobyl but the thought did cross me and my brothers mind! I'm thinking that even if it was radioactive, it would probably be less than a microwave or cellular phone or something.

Chris Badgett wrote:Some toxins have a long shelf life.

You would need to get a geiger counter to investigate this scientifically.

Yeah it was mostly just a curiosity question. I'm not going to buy a geiger counter for it haha

I got a book recently that was from the Ukraine, I believe it was made in the 70's.

I was showing my brother and he joked about Chernobyl and that I had bought a radioactive book (which was really funny).

But it got me wondering, what are the chances that this book (or any older book from the ukraine) was contaminated by the nuclear disaster? Would it still have enough radiation on it to be harmful?

Not too concerned, mostly just a "I wonder if that's even possible" type of question.

Thanks.

(sort of like the back to eden garden, how it performs better when it has chicken manure placed on top of it. When it's just the wood chips/mulch some people have trouble with it breaking down and I think it might be because there is a lack of... nitrogen? Microbe food? Microbes themselves?

I'm not quite sure, but Joel Salatin's composting system comes to mind, except out in a garden plot acting as a mulch while it decomposes, as opposed to being in a barn and then spread out on pastures)