Talking About Green

There is no question that many of us are looking for ways to reduce or even eliminate the use of chemical pesticides in our homes and our communities, however, there is still the problem of unwanted pests that must be dealt with in one way or another. Here are some ideas on how to keep pests away for good, or get them out of your home if there is an infestation, while still maintaining your commitment to not harm the environment by using anything that might have a negative effect either on the natural balance of things, or on you or your family’s health.

Clean up

This is by far the best thing you can do when you want to control a pest problem without resorting to the use of powerful pesticides. Virtually all pest infestations start because there was an unsanitary condition in the home that lead to the introduction of the insects or rodents. And leaving any unsanitary conditions such as open garbage containers or exposed food can keep an infestation going for much longer than it would naturally.

With this in mind, it’s very important to tightly control how your food is stored and how often garbage is taken out. As a rule, you should keep any unprepared food either in the fridge or in airtight containers in the pantry. As for garbage, it should be taken out at least every day, or more if you have a large family and create a lot of trash. It should never be left in the bin overnight, as this is the prime time for insects and rodents to emerge in search of a free meal, and once they find one in a home they are liable to stay for the long haul, necessitating their removal through more drastic means. So all in all, prevention is much better than a cure.

Use Repellents

In addition to making sure food and garbage aren’t attracting the pests, you can make your home even more unwelcoming to them by using any of the vast number of repellent products on the market. Most of these are formulated with organic or natural ingredients, and can be safely used around children and pets. The vast majority are even pleasant or neutral smelling to human beings, while still presenting a strong and impenetrable deterrent to insects like roaches, as well as rats and mice.

Use Traps

If even after applying repellents, you’re still having issues with infestations, you might need to think about employing some non-pesticide means of control. Traps such as roach traps or rat traps are a great non-toxic way to deal with the problem. They can be deployed anywhere around the home and are generally reusable, and because they contain no chemicals they will not cause any harm to your health or the health of your family.

Encourage Natural Predators

Most people may not think of this when they’re dealing with pests, but there are many natural enemies of pests that can give you a hand in fighting infestations. For instance, having a cat around can drastically reduce or even eliminate rodent populations in a home, as they are skillful hunters of these pests. Even insects can be controlled by allowing predators to live in the home. Cats can kill insects, but they are more likely to be controlled by allowing other more beneficial creatures such as spiders to remain in your home. Provided they aren’t a black widow or brown recluse, spiders pose no real threat to humans, and are known to eat virtually all flying insects, giving you a safe and natural alternative to pesticides.

By following these suggestions, you can alleviate the problem of pests in your home without having to worry about your health or the safety of your pets and children.

This article was written to help people discover some alternate, and more ecologically friendly solutions to pest control. There are several really good natural & organic do-it-yourself pest control products and resources on the web that I also recommend.

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