Alternatives to Roundup
Roundup is the commercial name of a chemical used for weed control. There are also many other brands that use the active ingredient, glyphosate, to control the infestion of weeds. In recent years, the safety of glyphosate has been under worldwide scrutiny, with various lawsuits being filed against the manufacturer, and the total bang of glyphosate being used in some countries.
Mandurah Community Gardens uses organic gardening methods wherever we can to avoid the incidence of toxic chemicals in the soil, and in the plants we grow to eat. It is the essence of organic gardening principles to observe sustainability and incorporate harm reduction in the growing of our food.
Commerical organic herbicides
Thankfully, there are commercial available alternatives for control of unwanted weeds in Australia. Here are some examples:
- Bioweed
- LocalSafe from Contact Organics
- Slasher Organic Weed Control from OCP
- Nature's Way Organic Weed Killer from Yates
- Earthcare Organic Weed Killer from Seasol
Make your own organic herbicide
It is often cheaper to make your own herbicide using naturally sourced ingredients that are low in toxicity for humans or animals. However, you should research recipes well to ensure that they are safe and effective to use, as some natural ingredients can be toxic themselves, or have little effect on controlling weeds.
Ella from consumernotice.org got in touch with Mandurah Community Gardens to share with us some information they have done about using Roundup alternatives and gardening techniques to reduce weeds. It is worth a visit to their website to read it.
To read the consumernotice.org article about herbicide alternatives, click here.
To read the consumernotice.org article about herbicide alternatives, click here.
