Letter to the editor: Save the bees; we depend on them

Humans are smart. We’ve learned how to transplant organs, pack millions of books worth of data into a microchip and travel through outer space. And yet our lives still depend on little buzzing bugs to grow our food.

Seventy-five percent of food crops require pollinators like bees, but bees are dying at an alarming rate. A major cause is a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which are widely used by farmers and home gardeners . Neonicotinoids are horribly toxic; they poison bees’ brains and interfere with their ability to forage and navigate.

With safe alternatives out there, we need to stop using neonics now. Home Depot, Lowe’s, ACE Hardware and many local stores have already stopped selling this toxic substance. But Amazon hasn’t stepped up.

Please join me in asking Amazon to stop selling bee-killing neonicotinoids so the bees can keep doing their job for the environment and our food. We simply can’t exist without them.

Olivia Ross Perfetti

Shadyside