Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Make your Own Non-Toxic Weed Killer

Have you wished you didn't have to use toxic chemicals such as Roundup to keep your yard and garden weed free, but don't know what else to do?  Well, rest easy, there are other solutions.  But first, let me enlighten you to the detrimental impacts of using a commercial weed killer. 

Glyphosate is the primary chemical ingredient used in herbicides such as Roundup and the multitude of dangers it presents to humans, wildlife and the environment are just beginning to be fully understood and are rising at alarming rates.

Milder symptoms of exposure to glyphosate include eye irritation, blurred vision, skin rashes, burning or itchy skin, allergic reactions, nausea, sore throat and difficulty breathing, headache, lethargy, nose bleeds and dizziness.

As if that isn't enough, there are far more major issues associated with exposure to Glyphosate.  These include increased risk to various cancers- including breast and prostate cancer, nervous system disorders, genetic damage to human and animal cells, is transferred from mother to baby in the womb, birth defects, disrupts human sex hormones resulting in reproductive problems, miscarriages, attention deficit disorder, adverse affects on endocrine, immune, and nervous system functioning, seizures and convulsions; and even death.

Children and infants are at a higher risk for illnesses from herbicides than adults. According to the EPA, because children are still developing, their immune systems are less able to protect them from damage from herbicides. Children are also more likely to play in areas that expose them to chemicals, such as rolling on the floor or lawn. Mild exposure can result in complaints of dizziness and nausea, but herbicides may also cause neurological and developmental damage to children.  More recently, it is thought that chemical usage on our foods and Monsanto is a contributing factor to the exponential rise in numbers of children affected by Autism.

Pets can also be poisoned by herbicides by coming into contact with the chemicals. Pets can ingest herbicides by chewing on plants or toys that have been contaminated, or when they lick themselves after coming into contact with the chemical such as simply laying in the yard.  Even scarier, animals that bring herbicides into the house on their fur may spread the chemicals around the home and leave residue on furniture and carpets.

And this doesn't even begin to highlight the severe affects usage of glyphosate herbicides are having on the environment.  When it is absorbed into the soil it contaminates ground water and easily finds its way into streams and other bodies of water, disrupting the delicate balance of life in those ecosystems.  Traces of Roundup have been found in many wild fish, crustaceans and amphibians and are contributing to their decline in population due to cell damage and reproductive hindrance. It also affects many insects, which in turn affects the wildlife depending upon them for food. 

And the list goes on and on and on…  They also affect the bee population and as you may well know, the severe potential detriment of that global issue is a whole other story in itself!  If you are not aware of this issue, I implore you to do some research.

Mind you, these are merely very brief highlights.  If you are the type who enjoys reading really scary and depressing stuff, just check out the references listed below which includes several reputable scholarly studies proving the detrimental health and environmental impacts of using Roundup and other herbicides.

However, do not despair.  While we should still be concerned about the large scale impacts of herbicides, there is at least a way around directly exposing yourself to this highly toxic chemical.  What's more, it's easy and far cheaper!  And for every person which uses a natural alternative to a toxic chemical, we can at least know we are doing our part to lessen the overall numbers, and not contributing to the environmental problems that much more.

Did you know that in addition to its many other qualities and uses, white vinegar can also be used as a weed killer?  That's right!  Vinegar is eco-friendly, non-toxic, safe for pets, people and the environment.  But like other herbicides it is non-selective, meaning it will kill your beloved flowers just as it will kill a pesky weed, so use with caution in that area just as you would a store bought herbicide.  The only major drawback to using vinegar as a weed killer is that it has no residual action, so new weeds will grow again. That's why the added common table salt in this recipe is great.  Combined with the vinegar it will destroy weeds for good in trouble spots such as crevices in the walkways or driveway.

We have been using this method for the past several years and it has worked great!  We love that it is completely safe and that we are not contributing to environmental concerns.  And it is far cheaper to boot!  This will cost you around $3.00 to make for a gallon, whereas a gallon of Roundup costs about $25.00. 


Non-Toxic Weed Killer

Directions and Ingredients:

  1. Pour 1 gallon of white vinegar into a bucket. Everyday 5-percent household white vinegar is fine. You won’t need higher, more expensive concentrations such as 10 or 20 percent. It may take two or three days longer to kill the weeds with the lower concentration, but they will die.  So, you make the choice.  It's your buck.
  2. Add 1 cup of table salt. Stir the solution with a long-handled spoon until all the salt dissolves completely.
  3. Stir in 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap. This will act as a surfactant and make the vinegar and salt solution adhere to the weeds more efficiently. Blend thoroughly.
  4. Funnel the weed killer into a portable yard sprayer that you can buy at your home improvement or garden store.
  5. Drench the weeds with the solution on a dry, sunny day. Coat all surfaces well with the spray. Any plants soaked with this solution will die within several days. They won’t be back and nothing else will ever grow there.
  6. Funnel any leftover weed killer into an empty plastic container. Cap it tightly. Label it clearly and store in a cool, dark spot indefinitely.


Of course, if you don't want to use anything like this, there is always the good old by hand method, which I actually did, painstakingly, for about a year before we discovered the vinegar method.  It works, so long as you get the weeds by the roots, but it also makes for hours of back breaking work and is hard on the hands!  But, hey, you are free to choose what works for you!  Who knows, maybe pulling weeds might just prove to be the meditative experience you have been searching for…

And for tips on how to prevent weeds growing in your garden where you can't spray something that will just kill everything, you might want to read this great article by Homestead Honey:





References:
10.https://www.organicconsumers.org/old_articles/monsanto/roundup.php

No comments:

Post a Comment