Organic Pest Control: What Makes It Organic?

Organic pest control is a great choice when looking for pest control services. Most pest control companies offer an organic or green solution to your pest problems – you just have to ask.

In the pest control industry Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been around for quite some time. IPM is a green version of pest control where there is a responsibility to the environment by conserving resources, protecting the environment and protecting people’s health. If the pest control company you decide to use says they have green products check that they use IPM as well, and if they have any other accreditation’s or something certifying their products are organic. The hard part with finding a green pest control company is that there are no regulations in using the term green pest control.

With using organic pest control it is similar to organic food. It has to be labeled and certified, so it would be somewhat more easy to verify if a pest control company is using “green” products or not. This also can be used if you are buying a product for do-it-yourself pest control.

Many times the organic product is a natural combination of things. Thankfully Mother Nature created many great things that can keep the bugs away. Some of the more well known natural materials are pyrethrum (chrysanthemum flowers), borates (heavy duty salt), and diatomaceous earth (fossilized seashell particulates). These natural pesticides have been effective in preventing many different pests like termites, carpenter ants, cockroaches, beetles, fleas, and other small insects.

Some organic pest products are meant for certain types of pests. When you need aphids, white flies, or mites killed use rotenone organic pesticide. For killing millipedes, slugs, earwigs, ants, or cockroaches use diatomaceous earth insect killer. For killing snails and slugs use a beer trap, fill up a cup half way with beer and place it near where snails and slugs are found and the beer will kill them. If you need to get rid of aphids, spiders, or caterpillars use a garlic guard. For general pest prevention, neem insecticidal spray is helpful, and can also be used on household plants, flowers, vegetables, and herbs.

One of the most important things in making sure that the job gets done well is that you have a trained pest control technician. Again, that is why researching the company you hire is important. Whether you decide to use regular or green pest control, if you do not have a technician who knows what they are doing you won’t get the results you want.

The best thing about choosing to use organic and or green pest control methods is that since they are natural they are still able to kill pests, but they don’t harm people. There have been some incidents of chemical based pest products causing health problems, so by using natural products there is less of a health risk for people.

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