Spring brings many things. A multitude of them are very desirable, especially for those of us who have been cooped up at home for several months. How many of us have feverishly wished for good weather so we could plant flowers, ride bikes, walk dogs, orchestrate lawns, and listen to birds chirp? Yet spring also brings us a different kind of mix: a toxic soup of chemicals. Much of this soup is not imposed on us from the outside; It is worrying that we are choosing to expose ourselves, our children, our neighbors and our pets to these harmful chemicals. In 2013, Americans spent over $700,000,000 on pesticides (totalling over sixty-five million pounds) intended for use only on their lawns (1). You would think that well-informed humans would not make such unhealthy and selfish decisions. Before we can change our ways, we need to think about why so many of us volunteer to poison our communities every growing season. The reasons we choose to spray, pour, or sift harmful chemicals onto our lawns and gardens are varied and complex. Some of us have adopted a weed-free lawn as a cultural imperative. Most advertisements advertising chemicals and chemical treatments talk about weeds that need to be controlled to achieve an even lawn. Others of us simply want our roses or irises to produce spectacular blooms this summer and, once again, we are told that pesticides are a prerequisite for that to happen. Others of us innocently assume that our government or neighborhood stores would not allow the sale of chemicals that could harm us when used in the recommended manner. And others, in particular, seem to enjoy filling their garages with "c...... middle of paper......pesticides." If you choose to reduce or eliminate their use, you have made a decision. major step toward creating a healthier environment for your family and neighbors, whether humans, vines, critters or poultry. May we all have a wonderful, chemical-free source. Works cited1. . Redesign of the American lawn. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press, 2010.2. Pamphlet Audubon Society, 2013.3 “Gradual Feeding of the Pesticide Diazinon.” Having faith: an environmentalist's journey to motherhood. New York: Perseus Publishing, 2012.5. Steingraber, S. Living Downriver: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment, New York: Vintage Books, 1998.6. ., and JP Myers. On a stolen future in New York: Plume., 1997.