Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) are used widely in herbicides in forestry, agriculture, verge ‘management’ along roadsides and in parks etc and in residential properties. GBHs are non-selective, broad-spectrum, highly effective and have been commonly used since the mid-1970s. Users are often told they are ‘inert’ once they hit the soil. One of the best-known herbicides of which glyphosate is the key ingredient is Roundup. Until recently, little evidence of its long-term impacts was available. In the US, a man who developed cancer after spraying Roundup for several years was the centre of a huge compensation claim. In British Columbia, GBHs have been used on a huge scale in the forestry industry. Recent research there has shown that residues have been found to persist for up to 12 years, particularly in root tissue; additionally, glyphosate persists in the soil. Understorey species are also affected. Although edible fruits contained lower levels than shoots and roots one year after treatment, concentrations in both raspberry and blueberry fruits were above levels fit for human consumption. Wicklow County Council has signed up to a biodiversity charter, yet it has sprayed many roadside verges over the past year; blackberry pickers beware. We would all be well-advised to reduce any unnecessary use of GBHS.