Home Depot officially announced on April 22 that it would move to voluntarily stop selling traditional pesticides and herbicides in its stores across Canada by the end of 2008.

The retail home improvement giant will also focus on increasing its selection of environmentally friendly alternatives, according to a statement released by the company.

“Like our customers, we, at the Home Depot, are concerned about the environment,” stated Home Depot Canada and Asia president Annette Verschuren. “We are going above and beyond government regulations by working with our suppliers to develop pesticide alternatives that are environmentally friendly and produce excellent results on lawns and gardens.”

According to the company release, Home Depot anticipates that 62 of its stores nationwide will no longer sell pesticides by the end of June 2008, and all 166 of its stores will be offering alternatives to pesticide products by the end of 2008.

The products to be phased out include herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, slug baits, moss control products and lawn fertilizers with weed control. In total, approximately 60 products will be affected.