Why do I avoid using Roundup instead of stop altogether? When clients suffer miserably from poison oak on their property, it seems unfair and unreasonable to deny a chemical alternative to eradicating the existing plants. In such a case, I treat this herbicide as the lesser of two evils like chemotherapy. Personally, I don’t like using chemicals and I have my doubts about the what chemical companies claim regarding the safety of their products. Like with tobacco companies, the interest in profits tends to work against informing the consumer.
For a natural alternative to Roundup, see the Bonide Burn Out product I recommend. The active ingredients in Burnout is citric acid and clove oil. Burnout does NOT kill roots, it destroys plant tissue (defoliant) so it takes sustained and vigilant effort to starve a plant system. And the product is expensive! The more people use Burn Out, the cheaper it will probably become. A similar product is manufactured by St. Gabriel Organics
Below an MIT Professor Dr. Stephanie Seneff reports on Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup gives a good reason to avoid using the product because of its effects on our gut bacteria and its correlation to autism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9fr3f5pFEQ