All posts in “pesticide”

Household Hazardous Waste Disposal

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Do you have a “mystery shelf” in the back of your garage, basement, attic or shed? If so, you aren’t alone. Many homeowners with clogged drains, an ant issue in the kitchen, a patch of crabgrass in the yard or rooms requiring paint touch ups tend to try a bit of this, a spray of that and all of the sudden, their “mystery shelf” accumulates bottles of expired DIY products, homemade remedies and unknown substances.

What happens to these products (also known as Household Hazardous Waste) on the mystery shelf? Leaving them around poses a potential threat to children and pets. But these products should not simply be poured down a drain, emptied into the backyard or thrown away in the weekly trash. Doing so can contaminate groundwater, drinking water and soil, and the improper disposal of these DIY products can create landfill buildup and pollution. At a time when being environmentally sensitive is more important than ever before, homeowners often have little – if any – information on the proper Household Hazardous Waste disposal at their fingertips.

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends the following tips for proper Household Hazardous Waste disposal:

Permanent collection or exchange. See if your community has a facility that collects HHW year-round. Some of these facilities have exchange areas for unused or leftover paints, solvents, pesticides, cleaning and automotive products, and other materials. By taking advantage of these facilities, materials can be used by someone else, rather than being thrown away.
Special collection days. If your community doesn’t have a year-round collection system for HHW, see if there are any designated days in your area for collecting solid waste at a central location to ensure safe management and disposal.
Local business collection sites. If your community has neither a permanent collection site nor a special collection day, you might be able to drop off certain products at local businesses for recycling or proper disposal. Some local garages, for example, may accept used motor oil for recycling.

This information is brought to you by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) http://www.pestworld.org

Beware the Bite, how mosquitoes can be a real problem?

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They bite and cause all sorts of disease so what can you do to prevent problems? This man in Arkansas “Bitten by Bugs: man becomes part of scary WNV statistic”. I’m amazed constantly about people wanting to ban all pesticides, we just need to be cautious and use them in a manner consistent to their labeling.

Here in Arizona I see issues with ticks, bed bugs, assassin bugs and mosquitoes, so what can we do for mosquitoes?

Be Aware of stagnant pools in your area.
If the water doesn’t move it can get mosquitoes, so check areas like flower vases or drainage areas.
Shut your doors and screen your windows.
If you have areas that dry out but occasionally fill with water and it is difficult to treat, use mosquito dunks – the only product with BTI, a bacteria toxic only to mosquito larvae, that lasts 30 days and treats 100 square feet of surface water. The best time to treat for msoquitoes is when they are the water.
Where repellent when outside and/or dress accordingly.

The blame game continues…

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For some time now, the crisis concerning honeybees as been on the forefront of most news agencies and the internet. The concern has been blamed on cell phones, parasites to pesticides and now the EU has decided to ban 3 new pesticides. “EU bans pesticides that ahrm bees“.

“The insecticides — imidacloprid and clothianidin produced by Bayer, and thiamethoxam by Syngenta — are used to treat seeds and are applied to the soil or sprayed on bee-attractive plants and cereals.”

“”Pesticides have been identified as one of several factors which may be responsible for the decline in number of bees.”

Frankly I don’t know the cause, I’m concerned on several different levels – #1. in Arizona we have Africanized bees and you really don’t know until you investigate and sometimes not even then until they become aggressive and #2. Bees pollinate up to 80% of our food products and without them there would be serious problems. So before we ban pesticides lets please do some quick research to really get to the bottom of this potential life threatening issue – to all of us.

RISE —- Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment ®

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RISE —- Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment ®

is a national not-for-profit trade association representing producers and suppliers of various types of pesticides – including insecticides and herbicides – and fertilizers used in residential areas. RISE provides pesticide information as a resource and advocate to the media, policy makers and others who may use or advise on the use of pesticide and fertilizer products.

RISE strongly encourages consumers to read and follow label directions on all household products, including pesticides, to ensure safe pesticide use. Controlling pests to protect your home and family http://www.debugthemyths.com/

“We know you can handle the truth – pesticides help keep our families healthy and our homes happy. But don’t take our word for it. Take a closer look at the research, pesticide regulation, and personal experiences that demonstrate the value these products offer.”

Eagle Scout project wages war against Ticks…

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Eagle Scout candidate on warpath against Lyme disease

Eagle Scout candidate Matt Aranow with a “tick tube.”

Courtesy By Eleanor Burke/Special to the Town Crier GateHouse News Service Posted Mar 21, 2012 @ 01:08 PM

Eagle Scout candidate and Lincoln-Sudbury High School senior Matt Aranow is on the warpath against Lyme disease in his hometown of Lincoln. This spring he will launch an educational blitz in town, and with the help of his troop, disperse some 600 “tick tubes” in the brushy areas near the town’s playing fields and at Drumlin Farm Audubon Center.

“The tick tubes are supposed to control the numbers of baby ticks in the spring,” explains Matt. “You soak cotton balls in an insecticide, put them inside a cardboard toilet paper core, lay a bunch of them in mouse habitat areas, and the mice take the cotton balls to make their nests. The tick larvae die when they contact the treated cotton.”

Black-legged ticks, often called “deer ticks,” transmit Lyme disease, but white-footed mice and chipmunks–not deer–are the most common source of the bacterial spirochete that causes the disease. As large exurban home lots encroach on and fragment forests, people visit the borderlands where backyards meet woods, prime habitat for the rodents that host the tiny tick larvae when they first hatch from eggs in spring. This first meal helps them survive to the next year when, as nymphs in the spring or as adults in the fall, they find and infect their second and third hosts—often larger mammals such as humans or their pets.

Lincoln’s geography typifies a perfect incubator for the rapid upsurge of Lyme disease seen in Massachusetts and the northeastern U.S. over the last decade. Suburban incursion into previously wooded areas is a major factor in the quadrupling of Lyme incidence in Massachusetts, from1158 to 4019 cases per 100,000 people between 2000 and 2009, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read the rest of the story on Matt Aranow.

Trivia question – I’ll send to who ever guesses correctly ($25 gift certificate) what my Eagle Scout Project was! Comment below…………

50th Poison Prevention Week

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50th Poison Prevention Week

National Poison Prevention Week raises awareness of poison prevention nationwide during the third full week of March every year. As a Gold Member of the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) it is our pleasure to promote and encourage everyone to participate.

If your in the Gilbert area ask about our free refrigerator magnets with the Poison Control number already on it.

Pets versus Pests…

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Pets versus Pests…

I think I speak for many of us with our fondness of our pets, Americans love their pets and cats have recently overtaken dogs in popularity. I have two dogs Lilly my Beagle and Gracie my Beagle Corgie mix (I think).

What kind of pests can attack our pets? Fleas, ticks are just a few, so what can we do to protect our beloved pets? Many people use those products that are put onto the pets, the pests bite and die from the pesticide. I prefer the ones with an IGR or Insect Growth Regulator which inhibits the growth of the flea or tick.

Remember that on any trips to the desert or even to the dog park, your pets can pick up ticks or fleas. The other way the pests may get at your pets is from traveling critters such as squirrels, raccoons or skunks or maybe feral cats getting into your yards.

DIY Bed Bug treatment!

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Another article to justify my concern of DIY Bed Bug treatment!

I have written numerous times concerning the use of bug bombs, kerosene or even pesticides as a tool to eradicate pests. With all these tools we must take responsibility for the safe use and follow the use directions and labeling. It is very important to everyone for the safety of their families and neighbors. Often times problems may arise from the use of a pesticide and catastrophes may spiral out of control. Health risk can be associated with the improper use of pesticides no matter the good intentions.

You must follow all Label, SDS and directions of use with each pesticide. The failure to follow these simple recommendations may lead to your safety, those of your family, those of your pests and possibly neighbors. I constantly hear about fire, overuse of aerosols, mothballs just thrown throughout the house or DE (Diatomaceous earth). Most aerosols clearly talk about the size of the room and you just have to trust the chemical manufactures who produce this pesticide that it works at label recommendations.

One of my favorite stories is when I go to a house for the first time and I see white powder all around the home. Products like dust are to be applied into cracks and crevices, not spread everywhere were they may come into contact with children and or pets. Many products like mothballs are supposed to be in areas where you shouldn’t breath it in on a daily basis, hidden away in a closet properly sealed with door frame and bottom sweeps. All this with the intent of not breathing in pesticide fumes.

“Bedbug Treatments Can Be Hazardous” by Brian Mylar, KSAT 12 News Reporter

WE WANT YOUR HOME –

DIY Photo by NPMA