Tag Archives: pesticides

6 Reasons to March against Monsanto May 25th

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Aerial view of a crop circle made by local farmers and Greenpeace volunteers

Aerial view of a crop circle made by local farmers and Greenpeace volunteers

There aren’t too many corporations more globally disliked than the sustainable agriculture company Monsanto. And by “sustainable agriculture,” they mean genetically engineering food crops with unknown chemicals leading to health and environmental risks including a jarring decline in global bee populations.

This Saturday, May 25, thousands of global activists will participate in marches against Monsanto in 250 cities around the world. Initially organized and created by Tami Monroe Canal, mother of two young daughters, this global movement aims to fight back against a multinational corporation putting profit over human and environmental health. Continue reading →

Bees in decline: How long will pesticide companies deny science?

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Days before the key EU vote to ban bee-killer pesticides, Greenpeace is attending the annual general meeting (AGM) of Syngenta in Basel, Switzerland, in order to alert shareholders to the company’s role in the global decline in bee populations and ask them to challenge the chair of Syngenta board to stop marketing these deadly products.

Activists and beekeepers are demonstraing outside the shareholders’ assembly, while representatives of Greenpeace and the European Beekeeping Coordination are directing questions to the Syngenta board about the reputational and financial risk faced by the company in light of the probable ban. Last month, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a ban on bee-killer pesticides produced by Syngenta and Bayer.

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European agriculture at risk: time to ban bee-killing pesticides

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Most of the food served on our tables greatly depends on insects such as bees and their crucial pollinating role in agriculture, but the use of pesticides is increasingly placing the future of bees and our farming at risk.

A scientific review of pollinators and agriculture in Europe released by Greenpeace today highlights the ecological and economic importance of healthy bee populations.

The study stresses the urgent need to ban bee-harming pesticides. Such a ban would be a crucial first step towards protecting bee colonies and safeguarding the process of pollination from insects – instrumental to agriculture and food production in Europe. Continue reading →

Students: The World Needs You – Apply for the Greenpeace Semester

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APPLY FOR THE GREENPEACE SEMESTER!

Me, on a decommissioned Duke/Progress Energy smokestack (see picture below). Arden, NC. Feb, 2012.

As humans, we sometimes find ourselves in positions that change the way we view the world, or how we fit into it. This week, as we focus on recruiting students for the Greenpeace Semester, I want to share some examples of how my own time in Washington, DC three years ago led me to many of the most profound and exciting experiences I have lived through.

Let me start backwards: I do research for Greenpeace’s PolluterWatch project exposing the lies of the bad guys. Think Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Duke Energy, and other coal, oil, chemical and industrial interests. In order to protect their relentless pursuit of wealth, power and prestige, the people who lead these companies bankroll a network of propagandists to hijack our perceptions and our politics. I was introduced to this network as the climate denial machine, although their corporate agenda includes everything from cracking workers unions to suppressing voters to privatizing education.

The Greenpeace Semester led me into a climate denier conference in New York City organized by the Heartland Institute. I looked into the eyes of men who hate what I do. I shook their hands. I listened to them gripe about Greenpeace’s work to hold them accountable. I made small talk…and mischief. Continue reading →

Pesticide pollution: Chinese tea may not be safe to drink

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Blogpost by Monica Tan, Greenpeace East Asia

Tea

Drinking tea is an essential and much cherished part of Chinese culture. It’s the pride of the nation, so to speak, and this tea is exported to around the globe. But is China’s tea actually safe to drink?

A few months ago we bought 18 tea products at random from nine tea companies in China, and after sending the samples to be tested discovered that a whopping 12 of the 18 samples contained at least one pesticide banned for use on tea. Pesticides like methomyl and endosulfan, the latter of which has been banned globally under the Stockholm Convention due to its toxic properties.

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