Natural Pest Control: Kill Bugs Without Harming The Earth

When I was a kid, people were excited about space. I wasn’t born when we first landed on the moon, but I am old enough to have grown up at a time when space exploration was still grabbing headlines. It seemed like only a matter of time before we start colonizing distant planets and creating new worlds.

However, that hasn’t happened yet. We still only have one planet to call home, and so we need to take care of it.

Fortunately, more and more people are coming around to this view. I’ve seen big changes in the pest control industry over the years as we try to move away from toxic chemicals to more targeted treatments. Once upon a time, pests were treated by an exterminator, who would show up with a tank of the most toxic chemical he could get his hands on and start indiscriminately spraying. Those days are long gone. Modern pest control relies on advances in science to reduce the toxicity of chemicals and ultimately, eliminate them altogether. We’re not there yet. But we’re working on it.

So nowadays, if you have a pest problem, you don’t necessarily have to reach for a can of some nasty spray. There are many things you can do to get rid of bugs without harming the environment using organic pest control. Diatomaceous earth, essential oils, physical barriers, and environmental controls can all are environment-friendly ways against pests. Here’s a quick overview.

Diatomaceous Earth

Fortunately, this product is easier to use than it is to spell.

Diatomaceous earth takes the form of a fine white powder similar to flour. It might look like a traditional pesticide, but it’s not. The powder is made of the crushed shells of tiny aquatic creatures, or diatoms. Diatoms are interesting creatures in and of themselves, in that the walls of their cells are made of glass.

Diatomaceous earth feels soft to a human’s touch, but to a bug, it is quite literally crushed glass. Any insect that crawls through a layer of this stuff will receive multiple cuts and lacerations to the outer layer of its body. Insects need this layer to stay intact to keep moisture inside. Once the skin is pierced, insects dehydrate and die.

The best thing about diatomaceous earth is that it is entirely harmless to humans. In fact, food-grade diatomaceous earth can even be eaten, although why you would want to is a mystery to me. It is equally harmless to pets such as cats and dogs, and can even be applied directly to the fur of these animals to get rid of fleas. It is also effective against ants, cockroaches, bedbugs, and just about any other insect you can name. But it has no lingering effects in the environment, and will only harm insects that come into contact with it. The bees and butterflies in your garden will remain perfectly safe so long as they don’t try to crawl across the barrier of diatomaceous earth.

Essential Oils

This next subject is a little more controversial.

Insects live in a world of smells. It’s how they communicate with one another, find food and mates, and navigate the world they live in. So it makes sense that anything that disrupts these chemical signals can be used in pest control. Plus, people want to believe it. It would be great if you could just put a dab of your favorite fragrance here and there in your home and keep bugs at bay. But it doesn’t quite work like that.

You’ll find plenty of extravagant claims made on behalf of essential oils as a method of pest control, usually by the people who sell them. It can be difficult to cut through the noise. However, essential oils do work to repel bugs. Also, some essential oils will kill insects if applied directly to them. However, that’s true of just about any oil.

The efficacy of different essential oils on different insects is too large a topic to get into here. But briefly, certain essential oils will indeed help to repel ants. Patchouli and peppermint both work, as do extracts of pepper. Peppermint will also help to repel mice, though if they are established in your home, they will ignore the smell. Cedar oil is effective against a wide range of insects, since this is how cedar trees prevent themselves from being colonized by bugs. Ants seem especially vulnerable to this method of treatment. These eco-friendly methods compared to the chemicals used to get rid of pharao ants are much friendlier to our planet and to our children.

On the other end of the scale, we have bedbugs. As creatures that feed solely on blood, these tiny monsters won’t be turned away by a smell. There are some essential oils, such as peppermint and cedar, that will kill bugs on contact. But once you’ve located the secretive insects, there are many ways to kill them, including by simply squashing them. So essential oils aren’t particularly useful here.

Physical Barriers

When it comes to pest control, prevention really is better than cure. It’s often more effective, more environmentally friendly, and cheaper to stop a problem from happening than to try and fix it once it’s already begun.

Many pests colonize our home from outdoors. Ants, for instance. Fleas and certain cockroach species also come from outside, as do mosquitoes and many types of beetle. Sealing up gaps and cracks in your home with silicone caulk can go a long way toward preventing this. Pay special attention to water pipes, gas pipes, dryer vents, and air conditioning returns. Also, check around the frames of windows and doors. Gaps can often be found here that let bugs inside.

Environmental Controls

I have to admit, this is my favorite kind of pest control. Just because it’s so devious.

Nature maintains a delicate balance. Almost every creature has some other animal that preys upon it. Likewise, bugs and other pests are very susceptible to changes in their environment, and many species only thrive in a narrow range of environmental conditions. You can manipulate these conditions to reduce or even eradicate pests entirely.

Mosquitoes on your property? Build a bat house and let the bats take care of these critters for you. Ants in your yard? See if you can get your hands on a few chickens to keep them in check. Fleas in the grass? Release some nematodes, tiny parasitic organisms that target and kill specific insects.

And it doesn’t have to be as dramatic as this. Even simple changes like reducing humidity can make your home less hospitable for insects such as fleas and ants that need a specific level of moisture to thrive.

And if all else fails, you could always get a cat or three.

5 Ants you really want to avoid! Check out my story here: https://medium.com/@crosfieldd/the-5-types-of-ant-to-watch-out-for-this-summer-9a7a8feb16c8