Dear L.L.,
Because insects all have their ecologically beneficial reasons to exist, I’m generally a fan of human/insect cohabitation. But it may be time to draw the line when your fruit starts walking across the counter on hundreds of tiny legs, or, say, when a sweater moth flies into your ear while you’re sleeping and you have to go to the ER to have it removed (yeah, it happened to me—let’s move on). The problem is that when you poison a “pest” you’re creating indoor air pollution and risking poisoning yourself and your family.
According to the EPA, studies suggest that 80 to 90 percent of most exposures to pesticides occur indoors, including exposure caused from stored pesticide containers and outdoor pesticides tracked indoors. The resulting health effects include irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat; damage to the central nervous system and kidneys; and for some an increased risk of cancer. They can also affect vision and memory. Kids are particularly vulnerable to these toxins which can disrupt the development of their rapidly developing nervous, hormonal and respiratory systems.
Whether you’re trying to get rid of ants in the pantry, fleas on Fido, or scales on your spider plants, there are non-toxic alternatives that can be safely used in or outside the home. Here are a few:
Ants
Turn ants away from your home by locating the place of entry and squeezing a lemon onto it. Then leave the peel. Ants will also retreat from lines of talcum powder, chalk, damp coffee grounds, bone meal, charcoal dust and cayenne pepper.
Fruit Flies
Pour a small amount of beer into a wide-mouth jar. Cut the corner out of a plastic bag and attach the notched bag to the mouth of the jar with a rubber band. Flies will enter and be trapped. Change the beer when necessary.
House Flies
Make your own fly paper with honey and yellow paper.
Pests on Indoor or Outdoor Plants
Hot pepper spray: Blend 2 or 3 very hot peppers, 1/2 onion and 1 clove garlic in water. Boil, steep for two days, and strain. This spray will not damage indoor or outdoor plants and can be frozen for future use.
Soap spray
Use only pure soap, as detergents will damage your plants. (Liquid soaps: 2 Tbsp. per qt. of water. Dry soaps: 4 Tbsp. per qt. of water.)
Be sure to rinse the plants with fresh water after pests have been controlled.
Don’t forget there is such a thing as a good pest (even if some of them freak you out). Learn to recruit the help of pest predators such as ladybugs, bees, lace-wing larvae (aphid lions), praying mantis, dragon flies, spiders (a good friend to have indoors), toads, garter snakes and birds. For more about this form of pest control called “Integrated Pest Management,” contact the CSU Extension Office at 303-678-6238.
For more non-toxic pesticide recipes for all kinds of pests and parasites, visit the Pesticide Action Network's Pesticide Advisor.
And for those with sweater moths, may I just offer this personal sage piece of advice: sleep with cotton balls in your ears.
