I once tried to determine which poison the Queen might have used. I could not find a synthetic poison available at that time except phosgene, which was a gas. She had plenty of natural choices, including arsenic, poisonous mushrooms, anthrax, botulinum toxin, cyanide, mercury, ricin, strychnine and tetrodotoxin from pufferfish.
Which one did she use? They were all natural and, of course, organic.
Trust me. It is organic. I got it at Whole Foods.
The joke makes a serious point about natural pest control. Natural does not automatically mean safe. Organic does not always mean environmentally friendly. Green may mean almost anything unless someone explains the claim.
What Natural, Organic and Green Actually Mean
Growing environmental awareness created enormous demand for green products and services. The pest control industry followed that trend.
Green generally describes a product or service that protects or improves the environment. However, people often confuse green with organic. Organic usually suggests that something came from a natural source. Natural materials can still harm people, pets or the environment. A natural method can also require more applications, travel and energy than an effective conventional method.
The word organic has a precise regulatory meaning in food and agriculture. The USDA organic standards govern how certified agricultural products are produced. They do not rank every pest control method by safety or effectiveness.
Green has no equally precise meaning in pest control. The Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides warn companies against broad environmental claims that they cannot support. A leaf on a label does not tell you whether a method will control an infestation.
When I founded Venus Pest Company in 2001, I called it Venus Organic Company. I saw the demand for environmentally responsible pest control and wanted to meet it. We later became Venus Pest Company so we could offer more options. Protecting families, pets and the environment still shapes every program we build.
Around that time, I may have just read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. His discussion of industrial, industrial organic and sustainable food production probably sharpened my thinking. A label can tell you something without telling you the whole story.
Natural Pest Control Methods We Have Tested
The internet offers countless natural and organic pest control ideas. Some can kill pests on contact. That does not mean they can eliminate an infestation. Many provide no residual or long-term control.
We have tested and observed these methods in real pest problems. Here is what our experience has shown.
Plant oils: Rosemary, citrus, thyme, pyrethrum and basil oils can act quickly. We occasionally use citrus oils when we need fast knockdown but cannot use another insecticide. One example would be a fire ant mound at a daycare while children are playing. These oils provide no residual or long-term control, and they usually have strong odors. They act fast and dissipate fast. If we spray a wasp nest, the wasps present may die. Wasps that were away can return and land safely within minutes.
Diatomaceous earth: Diatomaceous earth consists of the remains of tiny sea creatures. The abrasive material supposedly controls insects by scratching their waxy undersides and causing dehydration. Products claim that it controls cockroaches in 48 hours to one week, but I have not seen that. It acts so slowly that I argue it does not work at all. Do not waste your time on this one.
Spices: Cayenne pepper, cinnamon, peppermint, mint tea bags and cucumber peels may make some insects avoid a small area. Ants may refuse to cross a line of cayenne pepper near one opening. However, it is nearly impossible and probably unwise to leave piles of spices or tea around a home with children or pets. The insects remain inside the walls and continue looking for food. They can find another opening. Insects are excellent climbers.
Soapy water: Soapy water offers benefits similar to plant oils or spices. It can kill some insects, and it does not last in the environment. However, it provides only moderate efficacy and no residual or long-term control. That means more applications and more energy use.
Rice for ants: The myth says ants carry rice into the colony, eat it and die when the rice expands inside their stomachs. Ants are not naturally attracted to rice. You would need another ingredient to trick them into eating it. Finding a way to make that work is not worth the effort when extremely effective baits already exist.
These methods may sound appealing, but they often produce disappointing results. Killing a few visible pests does not always affect the nest, colony or breeding source.
Better Tools for Responsible Pest Management
Responsible pest control does not depend on whether a method sounds natural. It depends on whether the method controls the pest while limiting unnecessary pesticide use and exposure.
The following tools belong in that discussion.
Integrated Pest Management: IPM uses pest identification, inspection, monitoring, prevention and targeted control. The EPA explains the principles of Integrated Pest Management in similar terms. In a recognized 2002 study, Albert Greene and Nancy Breisch called IPM the central technological paradigm for pesticide reform. Their program across 55 public buildings reduced pesticide use by 93% and pest complaints by 89%. Any pest control company should be able to define IPM and explain how it uses it.
Baits: Baits do not merely repel insects from one location. Worker ants or cockroaches feed on the bait, carry it back and share it throughout the nest. That process can eventually provide complete control. Recognized research on bait-centered IPM has shown that baits can reduce the amount of active ingredient needed for control by 90% or more. A year-long German cockroach study found that bait-centered IPM controlled populations that conventional monthly treatments failed to control. Texas A&M also notes that fire ant baits contain extremely low amounts of toxins because workers carry the bait to the queen and colony. Our fire ant control program uses that same principle.
Insect growth regulators: IGRs specifically target insects, so they are not harmful to other organisms. We most often use them against cockroaches, fleas, bed bugs, mosquitoes and termites.
Boric acid: Boric acid may sound frightening, but it is a naturally occurring insecticide dust. Pest professionals have used it for almost 100 years. It acts slowly, has very low toxicity to people and animals, and lasts a long time.
Indoxacarb and dinotefuran: These synthetic insecticides received expedited EPA registration because of their low environmental risk. The EPA Reduced Risk program prioritizes products that may reduce risks to people, wildlife, water and other environmental resources. We began using indoxacarb in 2009 as part of our green service offerings.
Bacillus thuringiensis: Bt is an insecticidal bacterium. It is so specific that certain strains kill only one insect species. Bt is invaluable against mosquito larvae because we can apply it directly to water. In that use, it kills only mosquito larvae. Most people know this product as mosquito dunks. The EPA provides more information about Bti for mosquito control.
Spinosad and abamectin: Bacterial fermentation produces these two natural insecticides. Pest professionals mainly use them in ant and cockroach baits and in products applied to animals for parasite control. Spinosad also serves as the active ingredient in some flea medications for pets.
These examples show why the usual marketing categories fail. Natural products do not always work well. Synthetic products do not automatically create greater environmental risk. The method, amount, target and result matter.
What BeeGreen Taught Us
After extensive research, field trials and experimentation, we created our BeeGreen service. It reduced reliance on pesticides while still controlling pests in homes and businesses.
We still serve some customers who originally enrolled in BeeGreen, but we no longer market the program heavily. The green craze also changed. Customers became less interested in broad labels and more interested in practical results.
BeeGreen taught us another important lesson. Some customers thought the name meant we could never adjust or escalate a treatment. When an initial method fell short, they sometimes left instead of requesting a return visit. They assumed we could not do anything more.
That outcome helped nobody. A responsible pest management program must allow professional judgment. We start with an appropriate approach, evaluate the results and make changes when the pest requires them.
How Venus Evaluates a Pest Problem
We do not begin by asking whether a product sounds natural, organic or green. We begin with the pest.
What species is present? Why is it there? Where does it live and reproduce? Can we remove food, water, shelter or an entry point? What method fits the location? How will we judge the result?
Correcting conducive conditions may reduce the need for treatment. Accurate identification helps us place control where the pest will encounter it. Baits and other targeted methods can dramatically reduce the amount of active ingredient needed. Monitoring tells us whether the plan worked.
Our Basic Pest Control service follows those principles. We identify the problem, choose an effective approach and adjust when necessary. That is more honest than promising that one marketing category can solve every pest problem.
It can be difficult to filter all the claims about natural, organic and green pest control. Ask what a method actually does, how much control it provides and whether it reduces the total resources needed to solve the problem.
Oh, and if a plastic bag of water hanging over the door keeps flies away for you, consider yourself lucky. You are in the minority.