Why do we say that pest prevention is the “greenest” pest control? Well, we have our reasons, and we listed some of them bellow.

• No energy spent on the shipment of raw materials for the product to a factory.

• No energy to manufacture the product.

• No energy spent to ship raw materials for packaging.

• No energy to manufacture packaging.

• No energy to ship raw materials for labeling.

• No energy to manufacture and print labeling.

• No energy spent on storage at the factory.

• No energy spent on shipment to a warehouse.

• No energy for storage in a warehouse.

• No energy for shipping the finished product.

• No energy for displaying in a retail store.

• There is no packaging to end up in a landfill.

When you look at each of the steps involved in getting any product, chemical, or natural from raw material to you, you can see that all of the steps put together make one very large carbon footprint! Wouldn’t it be better to just stop them before they get started?

Taken from: Why Is Prevention The Greenest Pest Control? From Bugs and Weeds

A lot of what this blog will focus on, is the issue of biodiversity, not just as it relates to the exotic rain forests of the planet, but as it relates to the damage being done to the environment here at home by exotic invasive plants. the problem has reached mega proportions, but is under reported, and underfunded. In an effort to get the word out, we include this article taken from the Burns Environmental website at BurnsEnvironmental.com.

We would like to encourage people to use plants that are native to their particular location, to help prevent the further spread of this devastating dilemma! Go native! Protect biodiversity in your own back yard!

Save the Rainforests, Just Not in Your Landscape!

One of the most pressing problems confronting the world today is the loss of biodiversity to “non native” plants. Most people in America readily recognize this as it relates to human causes in such places as the exotic rainforest regions of the world. Unfortunately, not as many are aware of the ecological destruction occurring through the loss of biodiversity right here in our own back yards.

Twofold destruction.

This destruction has reached major proportions in such places as Hawaii, and the Southern portion of the United States. It has become a serious threat to our rangelands, forests, and our public waters. Billions of dollars are spent annually on control efforts, and billions more are lost to destruction. They effect our water intake systems, power plants, timber production, cattle production, and many other critical areas of modern life. The uncounted cost due to the loss of biodiversity, may be even higher!

While it is important to save as much of the biodiversity existing in exotic rain forests as possible, it is equally important to protect the home front. This is one place where thinking globally, and acting locally can really help. You can make important changes, and take important steps right here at home!

What can you do? Well, I am glad you asked!

• Start by buying and using native plants in your landscape. These are better anyway, and will save money on upkeep. The natives will be more disease resistant, require fewer nutrients, and less water than the exotic plants.

• When biking, hiking, or boating. Be careful not to bring home any hitch hikers. Check your pets, check your vehicles, check your clothes. If you are boating, please check the prop, the bilge, the live well, and anything that went on or near the water, including other recreational vehicles like four wheelers.

• Avoid such things as dumping out an aquarium in a lake or pond, The Hydrilla which has invaded the Southern part of the United States resulted from such actions. No matter how cute that floating exotic plant is, do not bring one home to put in your pond or lake! It may be a lake killer! The devastation from exotic aquatic weeds has reached millions of dollars, and we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. This hits us where we live. In our water supplies. No matter how tough you are, you can’t live without water!

Where do these invaders come from?

Most of the exotic invaders come from the same tropical regions we are trying to save. South America, Brazil, Africa, parts of Europe, and Asia. They are fine when living in their own regions, where natural conditions and natural predators keep them in check, but in an unguarded environment they can take over, and destroy all other plant life, leaving a mono culture.

Irony.

Ironic, is it not? The rainforests are destroying us as well! Yes, save the rainforests, just not in your landscape!

We would like to have dialog on things that are really green. So we want to provide some topics as a springboard for further green thinking. Some of it may surprise you. For instance:

• An energy saving device that uses more energy to manufacture than it will ever save, is not green!

• Organic, or natural, (usually botanical) products that require shipment of the raw materials to a factory, a lengthy and energy consuming manufacturing process, labeling, and packaging which required energy and resources to produce, which is then shipped again, or stored in a warehouse where it consumes more energy, is a lot less green than say, mowing more frequently, getting rid of brush and debris, and plugging the holes in your home to keep the bugs out! This may be a greener form of pest control, but it is not green.

• Saving the rain forests is a great green goal. We lose a lot when we lose an acre of oxygen giving, biodiverse forest land. We also have a major threat to biodiversity in the U.S. and many other parts of the world because of the invasion of non native, exotic species, which take over forests and waterways. The green solution is to prevent this. When that is not possible, is the use of chemicals to preserve biodiversity better than losing it altogether?

I am sure you can think of a lot of others. This is sometimes the difference between being “trendy” green, and being truly green, but it is something that needs to become a part of the dialog in this area.

Recycling, Is it always a good thing? In the simplest, easiest sense, the answer is yes, if for no other reason, to prevent it from ending up in a landfill. Some of the answers to that question would depend on the method and means of recycling. For instance, lawn and landscape clippings are always best dealt with by composting. Glass, depending on what it is to be used for, and how it is to be recycled, may require more energy to recycle than not. Aluminum, is always better recycled than tossed. The process of extracting aluminum from bauxite is so expensive in terms of time and energy, that the only time it is done is when fuel prices are low, or demand extremely high.

This brings up a fact that is not discussed as often as it should be. That is, that green is almost always involved in a head on collision with the green, money that is. The single best way to encourage environmental responsibility among manufacturers is to help to find more efficient means of production. This is a way that we can have a real and lasting effect for good on our environment.

So while we are busy about the business of protecting our environment, we should also be busy about the business of science and discovery. We need to encourage a new generation of young scientists and inventors who can work toward new means of protecting our environment now, while avoiding damaging consequences in the future. It is a difficult balancing act, but I am certain it can be done!

So, what does it mean to be green? Does it mean that you recycle? Does it mean that you walk or bike instead of driving? Does it mean that you buy up carbon credits to offset your lavish lifestyle? Well, there are a lot of things that you can do to help preserve our environment and be a good steward of the resources we have. Some of them might surprise you.

Some people think that by using non toxic plant oil based pesticides, that they are doing a great service for the environment. There are some great pest control products that do not contain nerve agents like pyrethrins, or pyrethroids, but they all have to be manufactured, which means, that the raw materials must be grown, harvested, shipped to a factory, cut, chopped blended heated stirred, shaken, and packaged in materials that also required manufacture, and labeled with products that required fossil fuels as well. Then they are put onto a truck, shipped to a warehouse, which requires temperature control, and from there shipped to stores or individuals for use. Each step requires energy, energy requires fuel, and that is a pretty big carbon footprint!

Wouldn’t it be much more efficient to just prevent the pests to begin with?

A tool for preventing Bugs And Weeds