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What are you doing for the environment?

February 18, 2009  By Statistics Canada


NEWS HIGHLIGHT

What are you doing for the environment?

Statistics Canada has released the results of its Households and the Environmnent Survey, 2007, which looks at what environmentally-friendly actions Canadians are taking.

Statistics Canada has released the results of its Households and the Environmnent Survey, 2007, which looks at what environmentally-friendly actions Canadians are taking. One area that people are paying attention to is pesticide use around their homes. Nationwide, the proportion of households using any type of pesticide on their lawn or garden increased from 29 per cent in 2006 to 33 per cent in 2007. Overall, 12 per cent of households using these substances reported that they used organic pesticides.

Pesticide use was highest in the three Prairie provinces and lowest in Quebec (four per cent of households reported pesticide use) where provincial regulations restrict the use of some pesticides.

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Residents in Saskatchewan recorded the highest pesticide use with 48 per cent followed by Manitoba and Alberta at 47 per cent each. Over in the Atlantic provinces, pesticide use ranged from 21 per cent in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island to 25 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Statistics Canada found that while pesticide use in the West was high, these households were more likely to apply them only as needed whereas in Ontario and Quebec, people tended to use pesticides as part of a regular maintenance program.

In regards to other environmental efforts, the study reported that 30 per cent of Canadian households recycle or reuse their bags when doing their grocery shopping with the highest proportion of households in Ontario (35 per cent) and Quebec (33 per cent). Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia reported a greater proportion of households that rarely or never reused them.


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