Natural and Non-Toxic Ways To Get Rid of Bugs & Pests? Good Question

Q: I am on the lookout for some non-toxic ways to get rid of pests (bugs, flies, ants, aphids, spiders, cockroaches, mosquitos). I don't want to be spraying toxic fumes around the house, not to mention the fact that I think it's inhumane. But then again, I also don't want these little creatures to make themselves at home in my house either!

Any recommendations or tips would be helpful!

Sent by Lily

Editor: Lily, funny you should bring this up! We've had a few other requests for non-toxic ways to treat pests at home and we'll be working on a few posts for our How-To month in February! For now, we came across these aromatherapy sachets available through Dynamo House or Evoshop in Australia. Each "Goodbye Friends" sachet contains 24 sheets soaked with fragrant essential oils that are nature's own insect repellants. There are currently sachets available to combat ants, cockroaches, moths, and silverfish. We've never tried them ourselves, but we like the idea!

Anyone else have suggestions or tips to share?

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Comments (8)

Diatomaceous Earth sprinkled in places you can't see (under fridge, behind furniture, etc)

Check out the Safer Pest Control Project in Chicago. They have resources on their website for homes, parks and schools.

We just moved into an old farmhouse that has a bit of a mouse problem. Our kitty has caught a few already, but I worry about him getting a disease from them, so we ordered some Fresh Cab (http://www.earth-kind.com). A lot of hardware stores carry it. We'll see how it works and I'll post back.

Salt can be used to remove hants. Just cover the nest entrance and wait for a few days. It won´t kill them but they will not return. In critical cases keep covering the nests and put also some salt in exterior doors, windows or places from where they can come. It's weird but it works.

i live in new york city and used to have roach visitors (argh!). i found every possible point of entry in my kitchen (above the cabinet, behind the stove, gaps where the plumbing came out of the wall, etc.) and filled them with expanding spray foam insulation in a can. It hardened pretty quickly. I never EVER had another visitor after that. No need to buy and replenish products month after month.

Last summer, we had an issue with ants in the kitchen. A friend recommended pennyroyal oil, something available at health and natural foods stores and typically used to treat animals for fleas. It worked. Well.

I used to have a roach problem in my old apartment. I sprinkled Borax around the baseboards, and it worked great. It's not quite harmless to humans (you shouldn't eat it), but it won't hurt you or your pets in small doses (it used to be used as a preservative in food). You should be able to find it at a hardware store or maybe even a drug store.

Besides being certified organic growers, we have small dogs so are careful what we put where they may be. The very best pest control we've come across is sticky traps. These can be purchased for about a dollar each (I cut them in half) at most department or big box stores. You put these where you want them to work (for mice, put them in corners - mice run in straight lines) and when they have done their job put a plastic bag inside out over your hand and use it to pick up the trap. Pull the bag down over the trap and off your hand, tie it shut and dispose of it in the trash. Safe, easy, non toxic and really efficient.