Dear Diggers, I am writing to you on behalf of our newly formed group based in the Granite Belt of Southern Queensland. Our group is a collaboration of Granite Belt Sustainable Action Network (GBSAN), Granite Belt Integrated Pest Management, Border Landcare Organic Group (BLOG) and Granite Borders Landcare (GBLC).
We have banded together to raise awareness of the value of invertebrate animals to every aspect of life on our planet and to protect pollinator species for our gardens and parks.
Our first activity will be printing a sign for local landowners to display on their properties, urban and rural, to show their support of maintaining a pollinator habitat garden and to commit to no use of neonicotinoid pesticides.
When creating a pollinator habitat, it is important to know whether the seeds you are using have been treated with neonicotinoid insecticide. This is because these chemicals are systemic and once taken up by the plant, the whole plant becomes toxic to invertebrates, including the pollen and nectar. It is a common misconception that such a tiny amount of insecticide couldn’t affect insects as the plant matures but neonicotinoids are extremely toxic to insects, and a millionth of a millionth of a gram can be fatal.
Neonicotinoid seed treatments are largely unnecessary and represent an unacceptable risk to invertebrate pollinators. A simple Google search using the term ‘neonicotinoid pesticides’ will enlighten you about their extreme toxicity to our environment.
We are aware that neonicotinoids are in common use in agricultural seed treatments and in soil drenches in the nursery industry. We are now seeking confirmation from seed suppliers and plant nurseries that they are not using these products. If we have this confirmation we could list the suppliers on a website (yet to be created) to provide local gardeners and farmers with some guidance when making a purchase.
Could you please confirm whether Diggers seeds are free from neonicotinoid pesticide treatments?
- Philippa H.
Dear Philippa, firstly, we applaud your efforts in raising awareness of the value of invertebrate pollinators and their habitats. We are passionate about and committed to sustainable gardening practices and encouraging biodiversity.
We can confirm the seeds we produce are certified organic and we do not purchase any seeds that are treated with neonicotinoids. Please visit the ‘Learn’ tab on our website
for support in protecting and attracting pollinators and shop our range of pollinator-friendly seeds. You may also like to complete the pollinator survey opposite.
Dear Diggers, my membership is due for renewal. I can’t seem to renew without it being an automatic renewal every year thereafter. Is there any way to manually renew?
Thanks, Kasie L.
Dear Kasie, this topic has come up a lot on our Facebook Community page so we wanted to provide some information to all our members.
When we updated our memberships last year, we included automatic renewal, which is outlined when you sign up. We added this option as many of you told us that renewing manually felt like a hassle. Auto-renewal means your benefits continue without any extra effort on your part. Membership is an annual commitment, and you can choose how to pay it: upfront annually, or spread across monthly instalments, whatever works for you. We send a reminder email one week before each membership renews so there are no surprises.
We’ve discovered a bug that may have caused some of you to miss the reminder email sent a few days before renewal. If that’s you, please get in touch. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again, and can help if you’d wanted to cancel before your last renewal.
Auto-renewal isn’t for everyone and that’s okay too. Our customer service team can help you opt out any time. Call 03 5984 7900 or email info@diggers.com.au.
Thanks for being part of the Diggers community. We want membership to be one less thing to think about, so you’ve got more time in the garden.