The Low Down On Green Living
October 9th, 2007
How To Tuesday: Eco-friendly Home Pest Control
Stumble it!
There really are safe ways to rid your house of common pests like roaches, ants, fleas, even termites, without the use of pesticides that can be harmful to your health and to the environment. Here are some natural, non-toxic ways to control these unwanted guests when they wear out their welcome!
Roaches Away!
Roaches are just the worst. How many of us have nearly had a heart attack coming across a 7-foot-long roach in the kitchen some night? ACK. Roaches need food and hiding spaces to thrive– and that’s where we can start to be rid of them. And there are some good non-toxic repellents you can use as well.
- – Keep your food well sealed, keep your garbage pail or bag impenetrable, and keep your countertops clean. You should also store your sugar, flour, cereal, and pasta in tightly covered containers.
- – As for hiding places, make sure you do minor home repairs like filling in cracks with caulk, sealing openings around pipes, and fixing leaks. Also keep your drains clean.
- – Vacuum your home well and often. Sponge mopping floors also helps keep roaches away.
- – Roaches can also be killed using boric acid. Boric acid is a natural product, but it is toxic by mouth to children and pets, so you need to put it in out-of-the-way places like the tops of your kitchen cabinets and underneath the sink in the cabinet. The roaches will carry the acid to their nests and it will kill the lot of them.
- – Did you know that roaches hate catnip? Catnip is not toxic to humans, but if you leave it in the area where cockroaches show up in your house, they will run away. (Of course your cats may come it nuzzle it, but that’s not the issue.)
- – Spraying roaches with soapy water will kill them, so try keeping a spray bottle around for sneak attacks.
- – Non-toxic roach traps are also commercially available.
Ants in Your Pants?
It’s no secret that ants are attracted to crumbs and debris on countertops, so keeping your counters clean is your first way to keep ants at bay. Wipe up sticky spots and cover any bottles or dishes that have food debris on them. Then follow these steps to further deter the creepy little critters.
- – Like roaches, ants don’t like soapy water. Keep a small spray bottle handy and spray the ants when you find them.
- – Boric acid is also good for getting rid of ants. One blogger recommends this mixture to rid your house of ants: 1 cup of warm water with 1/2 cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of boric acid. Then you soak the boric acid up with cotton balls and place those cotton balls near any trails the ants have estabilished in your home.
- – Ants also apparently do not like cucumber. Place cucumber slices or peel in the kitchen or at the ants’ point of entry.
- – Ants are also deterred by mint and cloves. You can leave a few tea bags of mint tea near areas where the ants are most active.
- – Block the invasion at the source. Trace the ant line back to where they come into your home, and set any of the following items there, which ants will not cross: baby powder, cayenne pepper, citrus oil, lemon juice, cinnamon or coffee grounds. Heck, mix them all together and you’ve got a powerful anti-ant cocktail!
No More Fleas Please
Fleas can be the scourge of both human and animal alike. Some natural options do work, but they require a bit more work and maintenance than slapping some Frontline or Advantage on the pooch or kitty (but they’ll certainly thank you for the effort!). Here are several tips that can be used to kill the fleas outright - some of them are similar to tips we’ve already mentioned above.
- – Boric acid-based products. This substance works by sticking to the fleas and then killing them when they clean themselves. These products are generally sprinkled on flooring or furniture and then vacuumed. The particles are so fine that much of it stays adhered to the carpeting or upholstry fibers after vacuuming - safe for pets but bad news for fleas! Wear a mask, though - those small particles can be a problem if you breathe in too many during application.
- – Diatomaceous earth. Dirt in my house you say? No … diatomaceous earth is actually the fossilized remains of diatoms, the microscopic hard-shelled algae that fill our oceans and lakes. It is generally found as a sedimentary rock that is ground up into a fine powder. Why is it bad for fleas? Well, those old diatoms had very sharp little shells - so sharp that, when ingested, they puncture the innards of our flea tormentors. Or, the DE particles stick to flea outer shells and puncture them instead, resulting in termination by dehydration. Not pleasant to think about, but much better than the agony of our furry friends! Application is very similar to that of boric acid above.
- – Nontoxic flea traps are available commercially.
- – Flea control nematodes can be used in outdoor areas.
These approaches will reduce the flea populations, but you’ll still have to practice good household and animal hygiene. Make sure to vacuum and wash all bedding and linens - that will get rid of the eggs and larvae. Also, give your pet a 5-10 minute bath. Even relatively mild soaps will get rid of most fleas, but don’t do this too often as your pet will begin to scratch from dryness, not fleas! In a bit of time, natural products + good hygiene will rid your house of these alwful critters.
We hope this list will get you started on the road to a healthy, pest-free home! (We will cover termites in a separate post.) If you have any tips that have worked for you, please add them to the comments section.
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Comments
James Burns
December 30th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Nice article. Good suggestions.
Keith Gordon
May 21st, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Hello all! I like what you have going on here but, I have a bit of information that you may not be aware of. Because I work in the pest management industry, you may be tempted to shut me out. Don’t run off so quick. I’m on your side! Just hear me out. You may be surprised about what I have to tell all of you. It’s good news for those of you that care about your health and the environment. I can appreciate what you are trying to do in the way of environmentally friendly, health conscious, do it yourself pest management. What you may not know is that most, if not all, of the methods you are using, are the exact methods that have been used by the pest management industry for the last 12-14 years. In some cases, we have been practicing these methods even longer than 14 years. On the outside, my industry is perceived in a bad way. It’s really sad too because, this has led to people over applying and misapplying pesticides, with the intension of reducing the negative effects associated with commercial pest management practices. We (the pest management industry) are thought of as rotten polluters and dullards, unconcerned with the health of animals and humans. This could not be farther from the truth. There is no one person, or industry, more concerned with these issues than we are. To understand this you must realize the extreme liability that is involved with what we do. Every single day we are contracted to remove hazardous pest problems in schools, restaurants, homes, hospitals, day cares, office buildings and many other places that are concerned with, not only pests but also, they are concerned with pesticides. This is why we are the best qualified when it comes to controlling pests in a sensitive environment. Our customers don’t want pests. Nor do they want to be exposed to hazardous materials. As a result, our industry has evolved into one that looks a lot like what you are all trying to do on your own. I read all about all of your, homemade, boric acid bait concoctions and other home remedies. We have been using boric acid baits for decades. (Only we apply ours into cracks and wall voids, not as big blobs that lay around for the dog to eat) I read about your use of organic pyrethrum and pyrethrins to control insects on plants. We use these things all day, every day. We have been using them for decades but we apply them at rates that are safe when applied according to the label. Non-professionals double and triple doses until they finally fail and give up. You don’t need to use more pesticides if you are trained where to put them and what to use. All of these “Green” or “Non-Toxic” products that you think are exclusive to environmentalists or specialized “Green” pest management firms are common coin throughout our industry. In fact, even if we had the desire to use a highly toxic pesticide (We don’t have this desire. We don’t like to get sued.), we couldn’t find one simply because, the manufactures don’t even make things like that anymore. Even if they did, our industry would have no use for them because we don’t want a thing to do with the lawsuits that would be associated with the use of harmful products. I sit here and I read about all of these things that you are doing to safely control your own pest and I have to laugh because, you are not only using the wrong products but, you are using way too much of them and, you are putting them in the wrong locations. Your attempt to lower the environmental impact and expose yourself to fewer pesticides is resulting in the exact opposite. You talk about pouring boric acid all over the place, for roach control, when a tiny placement of a gel bait (many times boric acid based and placed in a crack) would do the trick. This is just one of many examples of over application. You should call a professional if you want less exposure to pesticides. We are just not the nasty kind folks that we are made out to be. We are way more concerned about this stuff than you are. We are concerned about it in ways that you will never understand. It is not about the environment for us. It’s about that and more for us. Thanks for reading me.
Lois Good
June 2nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Is there any way to keep “stink bugs” from invading our house. They were seen frequently in the fall, winter and early spring but seem to be gone now that we are into warmer weather. These bugs are a problem only in the past year and I understand are somewhat new to this area (south central PA). Please comment and thanks.
Tina
August 10th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Lois, about thethe stink bugs… They seem to be in allot of new places this year. We have had quite a few in our apartment too. I have found that vinegar kills them. Hope this helps!
How To Remove Cockroaches From The Home
August 12th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
[...] Eco-friendly cockroach remedies Did you know that roaches hate catnip? Catnip is not toxic to humans, but if you leave it in the area where cockroaches show up in your house, they will run away. (Of course your cats may come it nuzzle it, but that’s not the issue. …. I read all about all of your, homemade, boric acid bait concoctions and other home remedies. We have been using boric acid baits for decades. (Only we apply ours into cracks and wall voids, not as big blobs that lay around. [...]
pest control tulsa
August 19th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Don’t you hate it when there’s a trail of ants marching across your kitchen counter tops? Or when you find ants nibbling on crumbs in the cupboard or along the baseboards?
Getting Rid Of Ants
November 27th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Ants create a lot of anxiety for everyone. But getting rid of ants is simple. There are multiple techniques that are available to you. Several of these use items you have in your kitchen. Detailed information can be found at http://gettingridofantsblog.blogspot.com.
Hotel cala graci
December 22nd, 2010 at 9:44 pm
Hi i am Anny. I was looking around the web for inspiration — sort of a boost to get me back into writing —
and your blog,here gave me tons of it. Stoked I stumbled into it.
Looking forward to keeping up with your posts.
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