On October 29, 2014, demonstrators in Ottawa, Ontario and Windsor, Ontario swarmed Lowe’s stores to send the retailer a strong message: its time to remove plants and seeds treated with bee-harming pesticides from your shelves!

Despite science showing that plants and seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides are contributing to a decline in bee populations, and other retailers across North America vowing to remove neonics from their shelves, Lowe’s has continued to stock these products. Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, agreed to label all plants treated with neonics by the end of 2014, and is working with its suppliers to find more bee-friendly alternatives.

Friends of the Earth and allies rallied on October 29 to put the pressure on Lowe’s to be a pollinator champion and to take a stance to stop selling “poisoned plants” and toxic pesticides. 

Demonstrators in Ottawa and Windsor dressed as bees, bee-keepers and flower-children and stood outside of their local Lowe’s stores, demanding the retailer stop being a “Little Shop of Horrors” for bee’s, and to give bees treats, not tricks, this Halloween. Demonstrators passed out copies of our Halloween Card to Lowe’s in the parking lot and on the sidewalk, engaging passerby’s in bee-friendly conversation.

After creating a buzz outside of the stores, demonstrators moved in to deliver their Halloween cards to the Lowe’s store managers. We asked the store managers to deliver our message to Lowe’s headquarters, and explained why we were demonstrating. Obviously primed for our arrival- the store managers met cautiously with our groups, and refused to accept our Halloween cards. The managers said they could not accept our cards, and instructed us to send them to Lowe’s Headquarters in the United States. We will definitely do so!

Our Lowe’s demonstrations proved that Friends of the Earth and allies have created enough of a buzz to put Lowe’s on notice. We look forward to seeing them remove the bee-toxic products from their shelves in response!

If you missed the chance to attend one of our demonstrations, please make one simple action to save the bees: deliver your own Halloween card to Lowe’s. The card is available for download here.