What’s yellow and orange and dead all over?

Bright orange streaks pop from the verdant Sonoma County landscape this spring. These are poisoned plants, treated by glyphosate. If you are like me, you may have overlooked this phenomenon, but once you know, it is impossible to ignore.

Glyphosate (ɡlīf-ə-sāt), the active ingredient in products like RoundUp®, is the chemical of choice for weed control. Originally promoted for its safety compared to other pesticides, increasing evidence links glyphosate to cancer and other significant health issues¹. However, these dangers are largely unrecognized by its users and the general public. In fact, the County of Sonoma alone sprayed over 3,800 gallons of glyphosate-based pesticides in public spaces in 2015²; from Spring Lake in Santa Rosa to Sunset Beach in Guerneville.

For a long time, I didn’t notice the dead orange weeds along the sidewalks, nor did I think about how they might be affecting my family’s health and local wildlife. I avoided using pesticides at home, but I didn’t consider use at our parks and schools. I am an environmental engineer, who spent my early career cleaning up toxic waste, so I should have known better. Two years ago I was unaware. Then a personal experience woke me up.

The Catalyst: Pesticides in my Neighborhood Park

While playing with my kids at the neighborhood park, I learned from a neighbor that the parks department was planning a large application of weed killer. Due to scarring from sidewalk construction, weedsgrew next to the park’s long pathway that runs next to the sand box and play structure, and ends at our neighborhood creek. Would it be safe for my kids to roll around in this area after pesticide was applied, and could it harm the creek? For the first time, I felt compelled to do the research.