Monsanto pesticide banned in Netherlands.

The Netherlands is the latest country—after Russia, and Mexico—to say no to Monsanto. The Dutch Parliament recently decided that the sale of glyphosate-based herbicides to private parties will be prohibited as of late 2015. This means that people who spray RoundUp on their gardens and lawns will have to find another form of pest control: glyphosate is the main ingredient in RoundUp, and it has been directly linked to all manner of severe health issues, from bird defects and nervous system damage to kidney failure and various forms of cancer.
Bollenboos and the Party for Animals launched an initiative to create a notification center, where citizens had the opportunity to express issues that concerned them. Many residents of the Netherlands submitted their fears about the use of glyphosate, and the sheer number of people opposed to its use prompted Esther Ouwehand and Gerard Schouw, two members of the Dutch Parliament, to submit a motion the ban glyphosate from the country. Several political parties supported the motion, which was ultimately approved.

The Dutch Lower House had taken action to ban glyphosate from non-agricultural use several years ago, but it appears that Monsanto’s influence overrode that motion at the time. Hopefully this decision will be a permanent one, and the Netherland’s residents will be safe from this toxin from now on.

Related: Monsanto’s Toxic Roundup Herbicide Found in 75 Percent of Rain and Air Samples

With any luck, this recent action by the Netherlands will prompt other countries to follow suit. Millions of people across the United States, Canada, and several other nations have rallied against Monsanto products in the hope of banning them, but little action has been taken by governing bodies to put that ban into action.