Pesticide-Free Pest Control

Nontoxic strategies for keeping bugs and rodents at bay

November 3, 2011

We like to shake our fingers at big farms and businesses for using chemicals that could taint our food and water. Although farms are the biggest users of pesticides, can you guess who's second? Try a little closer to home. Home-and-garden use can add up to more than 160 million pounds a year—about 30 million more than business and government combined.

It's easy to see why we spray: Particularly in the fall, houses are invaded by crawling, scurrying, and flying pests—many of which carry germs, allergens, even diseases—and they're all looking for a warm place to spend the cooler months.


Though the EPA regulates sprays, baits, and bombs for safety, testing was not required on new pesticides until 1972. As a result, many common pesticides that have been around for decades were never studied for long-term safety. And even ones that have been deemed safe can cause harm. For example, children exposed to any pesticide in their first year of life are more than twice as likely to get asthma as are kids exposed to none, found a University of Southern California study of about 700 children.

The smartest way to avoid pesticide use is to roll up the welcome mat before critters infest. Caulking foundation cracks, cleaning cluttered floors, keeping food tightly sealed, and covering trash cans all work well. If creatures do sneak in, however, try these safe options.


Though Disney has created many lovable mice, don't confuse them with the vermin in your house. Yours leave unsanitary droppings and can spread serious, albeit rare, illnesses, including the infectious lung disease hantavirus.

Avoid most commercial rodent baits. They contain anticoagulants, which cause a slow death by internal bleeding. The poison pellets can be just as lethal when children ingest them. More commonly, cats (a great mouse deterrent) can die after catching poisoned pests.

Try snap traps. Experts estimate that the average house requires about a dozen traps (not setting enough is the main reason this method fails). Arrange them along walls and under cabinets, and ditch the cliché cheese bait; uncooked rolled oats or peanut butter works best—especially when you change it every few days.[pagebreak]


They're not just a problem for pets; these bloodsuckers will make you itch, too.

Avoid conventional flea treatments. They often contain carbamates—highly toxic poisons that can overstimulate the nervous system, causing nausea, dizziness, and at high exposures, seizures and even death.

Try steam cleaning carpets. Wash all loose rugs and pet bedding in hot water to kill fleas and their eggs. Vacuum regularly and dispose of the bag outdoors. While you're on a cleaning spree, bathe your furry pals (cats, too) with pet-friendly shampoo and use a flea comb until the problem is solved.


These wood-dwelling (and munching) pests cause billions of dollars in home damage every year, according to the USDA Forest Service.

Avoid fumigating your entire house. "Ninety percent of termite problems are around porches," says Jay Feldman, executive director of the nonprofit group Beyond Pesticides in Washington, DC. "So there's usually no need to treat the whole house"—especially when the remedy is sulfuryl fluoride, a gas that the EPA lists as highly toxic; as little as a teaspoonful can be fatal if swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin.

Try Bora-Care. This boric acid system is a low-toxicity pesticide that's a stomach poison for termites. It also protects the wood from becoming a food source for pests in the future, thus preventing new infestations. (Ask your pest-control professional about it.)

Ants and Cockroaches

Talk about creepy crawlers: They bring in bacteria and allergens that can cause or exacerbate asthma. In the University of Southern California study on children and asthma, kids exposed to cockroaches were twice as likely to develop the condition as those with no contact.

Avoid bug sprays. It's no wonder they knock invaders out—they contain organophosphates, chemicals that block nerve impulses and paralyze the insect. The trade-off: They're the most likely pesticides to cause acute poisoning in people, notes Feldman.

Try soapy water. Simply fill a spray bottle and fire away; it safely rains on an ant parade by cleaning the chemical signposts left by the insects, stopping the rest of the colony in its tracks. For roaches, use store-bought sticky traps, or make your own by placing a piece of banana (roaches prefer the smell and taste) inside a Mason jar and lining the inside rim with petroleum jelly. Place the jars under sinks and near where pipes enter the home. Soon roaches will crawl in to feast but won't be able to escape from the slippery lip. Once you've pinpointed where they congregate, use a hand applicator to inject boric acid, a low-toxicity mineral available at home centers, into nearby cracks and crevices. (The acid is abrasive to the insect's exoskeleton, causing dehydration and then death.)[pagebreak]


Moth myth busted: These winged creatures don't actually eat wool. It's the larvae of certain moths that can turn sweaters into Swiss cheese.

Avoid mothballs. They're either made of the chemical naphthalene or para-dichlorobenzene. The EPA says the former has been proven to cause cancer in female mice; both can cause liver and kidney damage in humans if ingested.

Try freezing woolen clothes. Really. Chill your sweaters for a few days at the beginning and end of the season; the sudden change of temperature kills larvae. If your icebox isn't big enough, visit the dry cleaner instead. Perspiration and food residue attract moths, so keeping woolens clean wards off larvae. To stop the pest from returning, tuck a dried lavender sachet in with your winter wear.

Don't Forget the Yard

Pesticides can easily be tracked from your lawn and garden into your home. Here are some safe alternatives to potentially toxic herbicides and sprays: 

Crabgrass Try sprinkling corn gluten meal (available at eco-friendly lawn and garden centers) on lawns in the spring.

Dandelions Learn to love these flowers. The leaves taste like endive. Another reason to keep these weeds around: They attract ladybugs, which in turn eat aphids (see below).

Garden weeds Give bark mulch and plastic sheets a try to suffocate weeds.

Lawn grubs Use milky spore, a safe, naturally occurring bacteria (found at eco-friendly lawn and garden centers), to kill these yard-spoiling worms. 

Plant lice (aphids) Soak pests with a less toxic insecticidal soap like Concern Insecticidal Soap.