I don't think anyone on this forum or seriously working their own business in this field would consider themselves above pulling out a weed. I understand that you're probably a little knackered from working this morning but comments such as that are not going to sway anyone over to your way of thinking....you cannot convince people by insulting them (just as those that have also insulted you aren't going to make me think...."yeah what he said"). If you didn't mean to insult (which I'm sure you didn't
), unfortunately to my mind, it did come across that way.
Actually back then life styles were very different than they are now. Mostly the women-folk stayed home and had time to tend the garden, weed, prune etc. Only the very wealthy could afford to employ a gardener or caretaker. Now days so many people work full time that not only is time of the essence but also money. People will get someone in to mow and look after their gardens but only so long as it is affordable.
I think that when it comes to small scale weeding many contractors will pull the weed out manually but when it comes to a larger scale job the cost of having someone manually extract the weeds would be prohibitive to many customers. If all contractors stopped using chemicals and started charging for large scale manual removal, this industry would effectively be crippled.
Yet when it rains the rain water seeps between the pavers, taking the salt with it. With time this would build up soil salinity in the immediate area of treatment, with time this would find it's way into ground water. If everyone was doing this I have no doubt that it would have an environmental impact eventually.
I understand your position on this matter, I respect your dedication to it. But until there
is an affordable alternative for large scale use I can't see where the majority or the paying customers are going to be convinced to ask that toxic chemicals not be used.
The answer remains in education of the consumer and the message needs to be repeated over and over again.
For the record. I don't use chemicals in my own garden, we use steam and manual removal, them make weed tea to feed the garden.
Nor do I use chemicals inside my home either but I pay dearly for good organic products (I will not use an organic alternative if it simply does not work).