The province of Ontario plans to ban the sale and use of garden pesticides. The legislation would keep lawn-owners in Canada’s most populous province from using more than 70 chemicals present in more than 300 products. Critics cry double standard, though, as Ontario’s golf courses, farms, and forests would be exempt from the ban. If approved, Ontario’s pesticide regulations will be the toughest in North America — which really isn’t saying much, since the only other North American province or state with any sort of pesticide ban is Quebec. One day after Ontario introduced the ban, Home Depot got a jump on compliance, announcing that it will voluntarily yank traditional pesticides from its Canadian shelves by the end of the year.
