Are you saying it's OK to harm the environment because you have no choice but to use chemicals to treat fleas and ticks? Harming the environment means ultimately harming everything that is in it, including humans and their pets alike.
I used to use spot-ons and worming tablets, those chemicals recommended by vets, ironically, but now I use harbal solutions for flea/tick treatment and for healthy gut flora. They seem to work.

@Ryo1 ohferpetessake no, but the alternative was no better. And hand-picking 100 ticks or more off each of 2 large black dogs is just not possible...you do know they do not just lie there and wait for you to pounce on them, don't you? Before they attach they are very mobile, they Jump onto the dog or whatever from grass stems where they lay in wait for passers-by.

@annewimsey500 As a dog owner, I completely understand your point. My focus is always on prevention rather than dealing with aftermath. And if one must use chemicals, they must dispose of it properly so as not to harm the environment. That's what I'm saying.

Some time ago, I learned how spot-ons work. It basically makes the blood toxic for fleas and ticks. It's horrendous. So, I use harbal solutions instead for prevention. Removing ticks manually is no problem. As for fleas, a serious problem would arise if I was too lazy to check my dogs, subsequently allowing fleas to establish the lifecycle, which is hard to break.