Dear John,

The numbers are in from this season’s butterfly count: once in the millions,
barely 29,000 western monarch butterflies were found in California last year.

Glyphosate -- a.k.a. the active ingredient in Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup® -- is
wiping out milkweed, the only food source for monarch caterpillars. This has
contributed to monarchs declining by 90% in the past 20 years alone. They could
vanish within our lifetimes.

Home and garden stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot can play a huge role in ending
the use of this toxic pesticide in our backyards and across the country. They
could stop selling Roundup®. But we need you to urge them to act!

Ask Home Depot and Lowe’s to get Roundup® off their shelves and help save the
monarchs!
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Companies like Lowe’s & Home Depot could be leaders by removing products
containing glyphosate from their physical stores and online -- following the
example of their competitor, Costco. This would send a powerful message to Bayer
that it must phase out this harmful chemical.

Instead of replacing Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup® with other toxic products, garden
retailers can increase offerings of organic and other safer alternatives.

We need garden retailers to act -- because the Trump Administration is failing
to. Despite plummeting monarch populations, Trump’s Fish and Wildlife Service
failed to list them as endangered, a move that protects Bayer’s profits and
leaves these iconic butterflies vulnerable.

Glyphosate isn’t just impacting monarchs -- researchers have found that it may
impede the growth of bee larvae, impact bees’ ability to navigate and find food,
and disrupt their gut microbiome, which could make them more vulnerable to
diseases.

Friends of the Earth members like you played a key role in convincing Home Depot
and Lowe’s to protect pollinators by committing to stop selling plants grown
with bee-killing neonic pesticides. Now, you can push them to take another vital
step in pollinator protection.

Urge Home Depot and Lowe’s to stop selling Roundup®!
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Glyphosate is also harmful to our health. It’s a probable carcinogen and has
been linked to increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Last year, a jury ordered Bayer to pay $2 billion to a couple who used
glyphosate on their lawn for decades and who both suffered from non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma. Over 52,000 similar court cases are pending. But instead of removing
this product from store shelves, Bayer-Monsanto is trying to settle the lawsuits
and keep selling this toxic pesticide. Under the terms of the deals, Roundup®
would continue to be sold in the U.S. without any safety warning.

In short -- Bayer-Monsanto isn’t likely to protect butterflies, bees and our
health on its own. Garden retailers can help shrink the market for this
pesticide and help keep it out of our backyards and communities.

Remind garden retailers they have an important role to play -- Let them know our
health is more important than Bayer’s profits!
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Standing with you,
Kendra Klein, PhD,
Senior staff scientist,
Friends of the Earth

Contact Us:Friends of the Earth U.S.

Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA

1-877-843-8687

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