Greener Bug Management
If you’re using pesticides to fight creepy crawlies you’re not only spreading harmful chemicals and pesticides around your home and family but you’re helping the bug population to become super strong. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and other sources,
“Sometimes an insect does more than develop resistance to a pesticide. It grows to depend on the pesticide. A species of bee in Brazil actually eats the pesticide DDT! Normally, a deadly dose of DDT for bees is 6 parts per million. Scientist have found that the bees in Brazil accumulate DDT in their bodies to concentrations as high as 42,000 parts per million. That is more than four percent of the bee’s total body weight! Yet the bees show no ill effects from the DDT. Scientists have identified more than 400 insect pests that can resist one or more pesticides. They have found about 150 species of bacteria and fungi, more that 50 species of weeds, and several species of rodents that have also developed pesticide resistance. When a new pesticide is substituted for an old one, pests often come to resist the second pesticide as well as the first.“
Yay! Super charged bugs rock my world.
Beyond the growing of super bugs, the use of pesticides to kill bugs is not healthy. Products that kill bugs contain all sorts of harmful ingredients – hence the MAJOR warnings you see on the packaging. Pesticides kill – that’s what they do, that’s what they were made for. They can kill bugs and they can harm or kill people you care about when ingested in large amounts. Furthermore because these pesticides are often used inside, they’re not exposed to elements (sun, rain, wind) and can take longer to break down, which means they stay in your home a good long while.
BUT I HATE BUGS!
I don’t love them either. Here are some better, pesticide free options for bug control that won’t harm your home or family.
PREVENTION! If you keep a cleaner house, you’ll keep bugs at bay. Don’t leave dishes out, trash overflowing, or garbage around the exterior of your home. With the exception of cockroaches (who actually are pretty tidy and like a clean environment) most bugs find dirt and sticky and grime appealing.
Fight ants: Keep ants out before they come in by planting mint near your doorway or sprinkling chili powder or dry peppermint near entryways.
Limit fleas: Brush pets often with flea comb (outside) and use a powerful vacuum often. You can also confine pets to specific rooms of the house, and wash their bedding more often.
Bugs hate bay leaves and garlic: Cockroaches and other buggies who like to infest food are turned off by the smell of bay leaves and garlic. You can place a few leaves on top of grains like flour, sprinkle bay leaves in your area, or blend up some garlic, bay, and water in a blender and spray to your hearts content.
Traps: Use traps for yellowjackets and bees who nest near your doors and windows or have their nests removed.
Mothballs are toxic!: Use cedar blocks to keep moths at bay, and always clean clothes and textiles before storing. Keep cloth items packed into air tight containers and shake and air clothes periodically.
Flies are easy: One word “Screens” – the easiest bug repellent ever. If they’re already inside crush citrus peels and leave them in bowls around your home. If you’ve got annoying fruit flies, try a really gross trick – Grab a banana peel, stuff it in a recycled 2-liter bottle, fill with water (leave a few inches at the top) and set near fruit fly gatherings. Fruit flies aren’t so clever. They’ll fly into your bottle thinking, “Banana!” and once in there, get confused and can’t get out. Gross but totally effective. I HATE fruit flies so I’m not opposed to exploiting their weakness for bananas.
[image via Flickr]
Post from: Blisstree