2020. I haven’t seen a can of Lysol since March, yet the plants are managing to find some??
December 18, 2020
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I haven’t seen a can of Lysol since March, yet the plants are managing to find some??
By Julie Gifford
In the beginning, I was definitely one of the crazy people that washed my groceries and disinfected my keys on an hourly basis. New Yorkers weren’t exactly in the position, at the time, of thinking about long term negative effects of excessive use of disinfectant. UGH!!! As they, whoever they are, say, hindsight is 20/20. If only I could have known that 8 months later I’d be writing about how a group of students from Purchase College uncovered the overly sanitized truth. Our neurotic compulsions have the ability to kill off our favorite decorative and delicious shrubbery. I mean for real, WHY Didn’t Home Depot warn me when I purchased potting soil (for the first time in my life) that the bleach I was using to disinfect my entire universe would kill off my newly sprouted kale. See, I’m not an intuitive gardener so this seems worthy of a heads up. Luckily, this research paper has provided me with a detailed account of how an assortment of cleaners will not just hurt my new green babies but literally kill them off! Since reading this article, I’ve become abundantly aware my Covid-19 phobia is more alive than my violets and kale, so I’ll be sure to spread the word. Suck it up, go to Whole Foods, buy the biodegradable soap and wash till your heart’s content but lay off the sanitizer.