Archive for year: 2017

Eating organic and driving a hybrid car is not in your budget now. But here are some simple things you can do help the ecology of the planet and in turn save money.

Kiss bottled waters goodbye. America has the best municipal water system; though in recent years, concerns over clean water have risen. Lead discovered in the Flint water supply and additional concerns about clean water have come up in the news this past summer in some North Carolina communities, are both legitimate reasons to be wary of our old utility infrastructure. Investing in a filtration system or buying a simple Brita to place of the tap are precautionary measures you can take to insure safety, while not contributing to more plastic waste.

Recycle is a given. But what else aside from bottles, cans, and cardboard boxes are recyclable items? If you’re in the good habit of donating clothes to charities then you are on the right track. There are those clothes that are too tattered to give, but a few things you can do with them before they are dumpster bound. Use those old rags for crafts, line pet cages, cleaning, or if you like to sew, use them for practice patterns or cut up the material and use them for stuffing home-made teddy bears or throw pillows.

Cut down on paper waste by transferring all bills and newspaper subscriptions to electronic format. Not only will this reduce clutter and waste, becoming more organized will lessen stress which is always good for mental health.

Our economy is designed to urge citizens to consume. However, the level of consumption that cheap energy has afforded us is simply not sustainable. Our sentimental attachments to things and stuff could be redirected. Instead of purchasing that new book, borrow it from the library or if invest in a used copy instead, and then pass it on to a friend. Donate old magazines to schools or offices. Instead of buying a new power tool, rent or borrow it. Hey, it’s a great way to meet your new neighbors.

Become an informed consumer. Buying green products can cut overall waste and save you money. However, it’s important to know which companies to trust. Look for companies that promote eco-friendly products and prove environmentally favorable practices throughout the entirety the product’s life cycle. And if you do your homework and familiarize yourself about how different companies conduct their business practices; i.e. extraction of the raw materials, production, packaging, disposal, etc. you will benefit by making better decisions on where and how to buy the goods you rely on the most.

EcoRaider is committed to providing natural and non-toxic product options that consumers can feel confident using, even in the most sensitive environments. Check out our new Roach Killer Spray, the newest green repellent added to the EcoRaider family. The EcoRaider team continues to research and make it their highest priority to deliver sustainable, green products to the world that are effective against pests and cost-effective. Visit our shopping page to view all the available products.

Things to do:

• Summer reading list for the kids, Check!
• Packed away summer clothes Check!
• Bribed the kids to get them away from the swimming pool long enough to have them try on fall wardrobe, Check!
• Cashed-in on back-to-school supply sales, Check!
• Made arrangements for all parent teacher conferences and penciled in the back to school night on the calendar, Check!
• Ahead of the game; preparation for the school year in tact!

One evening, as you are tucking the kiddies in bed, your youngest is complaining about redness on their skin, while the other child is scratching away. The first thought that goes through your head, oh no, poison ivy! Oh, how you implored the kids to stay away from brush in the backyard.

On closer examination, you rule out the heinous rash in exchange for something just as sinister, bed bug bites. The red welts and swelling on one child’s leg and the flat, reddish blisters found along your other child’s arm points to bed bugs being the culprit.You ask the children if they have noticed any bugs crawling around their bedroom at night. They give affirmative answer and you plunge full-on into a thorough investigation. The kids had visited several friends during their summer recess and were invited to a sleepover or two.

Of course, you don’t want to rule out any possibilities; the family did stay 1-night at that road-side motel where cleanliness was not ideal. Maybe a stowaway snuck into the luggage and made themselves at home. Maybe, as the host of several weekend barbecue shindigs, perhaps a party guest brought them over to your home as an unintended gift.

Regardless, of where the bed bugs came from, if you don’t act quickly you could have a major problem on your hands, legs, arms, and other body parts. Anxiety has returned – you cannot send the children back to school when they will likely get nibbled on as they slumber.

Good thing you know all about Eco Raider products. Their all natural and non-toxic bug killers are very easy to use. The Eco Raider bed bug spray can extinguish bed bugs on contact and has an extended residual that is sure to combat all those insects lurking in the dark.The spray is child and pet friendly, which is such a relief. And eco raider’s extended protection will bring you peace of mind to focus on enjoying your remaining days of summer together with the family.

Once you applied eco raider, signs of the bugs disappear, the children’s bites start healing, and you adjust back to normalcy. However, other challenges await you, like disciplining the family back into school-year mode. Conducting the eco raider cleaning process will seem like a walk in the park compared to getting the kids back to bed-time schedules and waking them up early again to catch the school bus, along with enforcing home work and study time. Finish off one check list just to begin the next.

Realistically, though many gym enthusiasts won’t want to think about this, if you really take a look at it there’s no great surprise that with all of the gym bags, towels, and dirty clothes lying around locker rooms and workout areas there would be bed bugs. Just like public places such as hotels, hospitals, schools, club houses, etc. bed bugs travel back and forth from your home to your gym and back again quite nicely. Truth be told, one of the nicest gyms in New York had a bed bug problem a number of years ago. And whereas this may be a great excuse to avoid the gym, you’re not going to get off the hook that easily. There are ways to protect yourself from gym bed bugs.

Don’t Bring the Problem to the Gym

You can’t blame the gym for your bed bug problem if you were the one that brought them into the facility in the first place. Make sure that bags, clothing, and other workout accessories do not carry creatures from your home into the gym. You may not even be bringing them from home. You may bring them from work, school, or some other stop throughout your day.

Doing Laundry? Use a Bug Proof Bag

Yes, there is such a thing. They are specially made laundry bags and can easily be found online. They contain a fabric that is bed bug resistant and are perfect for carrying your dirty towel and gym clothes after a good workout. Put the dirty contents from the bag directly into the washing machine and use the hottest water possible. This is sure to kill any freeloading bed bugs.

Pick a Locker That Is Higher Than the Others

Even though you might trust the people you are working out with, you’re still going to want to use a locker in which to keep your belongings at the gym. That way, you don’t have to put things on the floor where the bed bugs are crawling around. As long as you can reach it, use the highest locker that you can and absolutely use the hooks provided inside. Bed bugs are apparently lazy – they don’t like to climb. Placing your belongings along the bottom of the locker is just asking for trouble. But hanging your clothing on hooks will at least help discourage lazy bed bugs. Of course, it won’t hurt to do a quick scan of the inside and outside of the gym lockers before putting your belongings inside.

If perhaps you should discover a bed bug problem in your home, there are powerful bed bug bio-insecticides such as EcoRaider on the market that work well in the fight against the pesky little varmints and other creepy, crawly creatures. Even pest professionals are relying on EcoRaider to solve bed bug infestations for many homes, so you can have complete peace of mind using it.

There are any number of families that head south for the winter months to warmer weather. In certain regions, those people are known as snowbirds. It’s not, for the most part, that they can’t survive the cold weather; they just prefer a warmer climate. But what about insects that literally can’t survive cold weather? What happens to pests during winter? Do they die? Do they hibernate like bears or migrate like some birds do? The answer is… yes. All of the above. Mother Nature has instilled in insects, as it has in many animals, the drive to survive under any circumstances by whatever means necessary. Climate and its severity are the major consideration when it comes to whether or not pests can stay behind when the weather snaps. Let’s take a look at how pests survive the winter months.

Hibernation – It’s Not Just for Bears

Many people associate hibernation with bears. They climb into a cave, go to sleep, and wake up in spring refreshed and revitalized. Bears are not the only ones that drop into a dormant state for the winter months. Some mosquitoes, paper wasps, and ladybugs are just an example of pests that hibernate in the crevices of rocks, inside hollow trees, or under leaves and bark until the weather is warm again. Some creatures, like moths, form cocoons in which to complete their development and hatch from them in the spring in their new form.

Get To Know The Process Known As Overwintering

We may all know about hibernation, but not everyone has heard of a process called overwintering. Under the bark of trees, inside buildings, and under the fallen leaves in forests, some insects pass the time simply waiting out the colder seasons. Box elders and honeybees are an example of insects that seek this kind of shelter from temperatures that are considered frigid. Until winter subsides, these species’ activity is reduced, literally, to nothing but breathing. Of course, rodents, cockroaches, spiders and some other pests take up residence in our homes and other buildings to wait out the winter months so their overwintering period is considerably more active and, clearly, far comfier.

Some Species Migrate

One would think that more than just humans and birds would migrate and that is exactly the case when it comes to certain insects. Monarch butterflies are possibly the most well-known migration when it comes to insights. Santa Barbara California is the winter home two monarchs that normally live west of the Rockies. A winter gathering in a forest in central Mexico’s Oyamel takes place each year by monarchs that live east of North America’s Rocky Mountains. These species of insect determine the distance they will travel for the purpose of migration.

In order to survive a harsh winter, insects will do whatever it takes. They are, after all, built to survive. Their precise method of winter survival depends largely on instinct and their geographic location. And even those that die leave behind the next generation of creepy, crawly creatures in the form of eggs that will be ready to hatch in spring. The best way to fight these insects is through methods that kill not only the live pests but the eggs/larva/pupae left behind as well.