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  • From: Marsha Hanzi <hanzibra@svn.com.br>
  • To: permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Roundup in Schools
  • Date: Thu, 05 Mar 1998 08:04:39 -0800

I would like to second the request. Herbicides are just arriving in
Northeast Brazil, and as they are not yet well-established, there is
still time to make a "counter proposal"...


Marsha Hanzi
Instituto de Permacultura da Bahia

Rene and Lorraine van Raders wrote:
>
> Hi all - we've been busy teaching a course, with it's inevitable backlog
> of work to wade through - hence our quiet.....
>
> People often ask us if it's dangerous living in our open walled house here
> in the tropics - well the other day it was - a possum knocked a glass jar
> from the pantry and Rene came out at first light and didn't see it
> (although we do remember the crash during the night now that we think about
> it....). He did a very good job of slicing up his foot and has only been
> running on 5 cyclinders for the past week....but he's back to doing the
> chores already :)
>
> We live in a dairy farming area (in Far North Queensland, Australia) and
> have been getting very involved in our local school which includes gently
> introducing the area to permaculture. The roundup barrel was empty and
> when asked for agreement on buying the next one, we've been the fly in the
> ointment so to speak. Most parents readily use roundup on their farms and
> see no reason not to use it at the school. When we gave them some reasons
> for our hesitancy (i.e. residual effects, killing/depressing of non-target
> species, threat to other species, possible harm to chemically sensitive
> people) these didn't hit the mark. The general consensus was "we've used
> it on our farms for years, it's easy, and don't have any complaints about
> it." Roundup is used at the moment on all fencelines and garden edgings,
> as well as in the playground sandpit....Apparently it has been applied
> every six months but the general feeling of the group was that that wasn't
> enough to stop the weeds, and one parent recommended on a fortnightly (or
> at least monthly) basis.
>
> DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY NEW OR PERSONAL INFORMATION ON ROUNDUP THAT MAY
> INTEREST OUR PARENTS & CITIZENS COMMITTEE??? ANY INTERESTING FACTS AND
> FIGURES?
>
> They have been good enough to give us a three month trial without roundup
> (during the peak growth time in the tropics)....We have our work cut out
> for us, as cattle graze on most sides of the school boundaries, making
> plant selection even more challenging!!!
>
> I should point out that we have the support of the headmaster - that counts
> for something.
>
> DOES ANYONE HAVE ANYTHING ON THE NEW 'FROG-FRIENDLY' ROUNDUP?
>
> Thanks for any insights you can share on this one.
>
> Cheers
> Lorraine
>
> Rene and Lorraine van Raders
> The Green Piece Permaculture Garden
> PO Box 389
> Malanda, Beautiful Far North Queensland
> 4885 Australia
> Int. 61 740 965138
> Australia 07 40 965138
> email rvraders@tpgi.com.au
> "If enough people knock there heads against a brick wall it will fall
> down."
> Ashleigh Brilliant





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