Unwelcome Visitors: Advice About Pest Control

The past two decades have seen a rise in environmental conscientiousness in all fields, and pest control hasn't been left behind. Going green with pest control allows you to achieve your desired results without leaving or releasing harmful products in the environment. Going green also means watching the amounts of resources directed towards pest control to avoid wastage, including prevention tips. This article offers little-known solutions for pest control using eco-safe things you probably already have at home.

1. Prevention ideas

They say prevention is better than cure, which is why this makes the top of the list. Proactive pest prevention for a home includes:

• Scheduling routine pest inspections when buying a home, as well as periodically after that, depending on rampant pests in your home area

• Investing in pre-treatment before moving in or during construction using environmentally safe chemicals or strategies (helpful for termites especially)

• Planning for pest exclusion to deter entry, e.g., sealing cracks/holes in walls and flooring, adding fly screens to windows and ventilation ducts and growing plants that exclude pests near doors and windows (details to come)

When it is necessary to use chemical pesticides in prevention, care should be taken to use minimal to achieve the desired result. In addition, any leftovers should be discarded according to the instruction leaflet, not down the drain or sink. Remember that even natural or organic pesticides are still toxic (just less toxic than the rest), and hence should be treated with care too.

2. Diatomaceous earth

Readily available at most home product stores, diatomaceous earth (DE) is completely safe for use around the house while being toxic to insects. When you look at DE under a microscope, it looks like tiny glass shards, which explains how it damages insect exoskeletons, causing dehydration and eventual death within hours.

Because DE kills physically, it doesn't build poison tolerance nor does it harm the environment. Use food-grade DE for any indoor applications, not pool-grade DE.

3. Plants

You can make your flower beds look good and work for you to keep away bugs from your home. Focus on entry points like windows and doors with these plants and herbs. The following are some places to start:

• Lavender – it doesn't just look and smell nice; it also repels mosquitoes, flies, moths, and fleas around the home and garden

• Mosquito repellents – you can plant citronella (found in lemon balm and lemongrass plants), catnip, marigolds, peppermint, mint, lemon thyme, basil (also repels houseflies), pennyroyal, rosemary and geraniums (lemon-scented geraniums are most effective)