Getting Rid of Bugs Naturally

SpiderNo one wants to be greeted with bugs in their home. They create everything from fear to annoyance to health hazards. So let’s look green and natural ways to get rid of them!

There are two key things you want to avoid:

  • A messy environment – that gives them a place to hide
  • An environment where food is out and always easily accessible – that keeps them well fed an comfy in your home

Keep your rooms free of clothes and materials on the floor that provide great places for bugs to move around unnoticed. Don’t leave food out and keep your counters clean. You should also keep all food tightly closed or sealed. If you do leave out fresh fruit note that this will attract fruit flies. Try to eat your fruit in a timely way and avoid leaving out soft or over ripe fruit.

Now even if your home is inhospitable to bugs they can still pose a problem if there is an easy way for them to get in. Keep good screens on your windows and doors and don’t leave your doors open too long.

For some people bugs are nuisance but they don’t induce the kind of panic that a spider can create. Something about spiders just brings out the exterminator in many people. If you need to get rid of spiders here are a few things to try.

  • Once you’ve found spiders (or a spider) in an area then vacuum it to make sure you get their egg sacs as well.
  • Keep you porch lights off unless you need them on because spiders love outside lights. Outside lights attract other bugs and this means dinner-time for spiders!
  • Search out organic spider sprays and repellents.

If mosquitoes are a problem where you live, you might look into getting BT’s (Bacillus thuringiensis) or mosquito dunks. This BT’s are a biological control that uses cakes made up of a bacteria that is fatal to insect larva. These mosquito dunks are dropped into ponds or other sources of standing water once every 30 days to help kill the larva before they mature.

Sodium lights are a natural bug control method that is used by many people because it so unobtrusive. The sodium light emits light at a different wavelength than the natural light of the sun and bugs are not attracted to this (the way they are to white lights which more closely match natural sun light).

Another method approved by many green advocates is Boric Acid. This substance is usually used to control pests like cockroaches, silverfish, earwigs, ants and other insects that do not fly.

If you are a do-it-yourself type of person you might like another green friendly method that involves sugar, soap and water. It’s called a sugar and soap trap and all you need to do is fill a small bowl or bucket with sugar water and a drop of dish soap. The water tension will be broken by the dish soap. This will help to ensure that once your bugs land on the water to partake in the sweetness there, they will drown because of the lack of water tension that normally keeps them afloat. This is also frequently cited as being a very good method for trapping wasps.

Here’s to getting rid of the bugs without toxic chemicals!

You can read more from Tiffany at her blog, the Natural Family Living Guide, where she writes about green family living, parenting, natural health, safe children’s products, and homeschooling. Subscribe to her blog here.

Original post written for 5 Minutes for Going Green.

3 Responses to Getting Rid of Bugs Naturally
  1. Jessica
    July 22, 2008 | 8:49 pm

    The ideas for getting rid of insects without relying on nasty chemicals are great! I just wish there were a humane way of managing insects and other creatures that find their way indoors. So far I haven’t found a non-violent way to keep ants, spiders, etc. out of our home.

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