Letter: What is a weed?

One of the unmistakable signs of spring and summer is the nostril-clenching stench of lawn chemicals.The potions that kill weeds and insects and green our lawns are nothing more than toxic cocktails of nitrates, phosphorous, potassium, ammonia, urea and formaldehyde. Some of these are known endocrine receptors and carcinogenic agents. They have killed family pets and made children sick.We need to stop killing weeds for the sake of the creatures that need them for survival. Milkweed, for example,