R. Dana Pest Control recently achieved Green Shield Certification of its "Dana Green" service, offering customers in New York and New Jersey a new green option for pest management. The company underwent a rigorous, 63-point on-site evaluation to earn the credential offered by the IPM Institute of North America, Inc.

R. Dana has been family owned and operated for two generations, with over 50 years of combined experience in pest control. The company has proudly offered Integrated Pest Management (IPM) services for nearly thirty years in schools and other sensitive accounts. "We've been practicing IPM for many years, since my father owned the business before me-only now it's become the thing to do," owner Richard Effaldana noted.

R. Dana's newly certified "Dana Green" service focuses on inspection first, using state-of-the-art methods such as thermal imaging to pinpoint moisture and heat, two indicators of pest infestations. They have also launched a Canine Scent Detection division, headed by a bedbug-sniffing "puggle" (a pug-beagle mix) named Walter.

The use of canines, thermal imaging and careful monitoring programs greatly reduce the need to apply harmful pesticides by pinpointing exact problem areas that can be addressed directly. This saves customers money and prevents unnecessary pesticide exposure. Regularly scheduled pesticide applications have been banned from all Dana Green services, replaced by unique solutions designed to fit the individual case.

"There's no cookie-cutter program that fits everyone. We customize every solution for the specific client, problem, and environment. It is a little more work," Effaldana admits, "But we feel that it's the healthier and better way to go."

According to Dr. Thomas Green, president of the IPM Institute, "Determining why a problem is occurring and solving it, rather than relying on potentially dangerous chemical measures, is how problems are permanently resolved. Dana Green follows protocols approved by our program that encourage the resolution of problems at their root."

R. Dana's Green Shield Certified "Dana Green" service is now available to residential and commercial customers as well as hospitals, schools and childcare facilities in Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties in New York and Bergen county in New Jersey. Their West Haverstraw location contains an educational center, geared toward teaching children about bugs and other urban creatures through fun activities.

Green Shield Certified is operated by the IPM Institute of North America, Inc., an independent, non-profit organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. Modeled after the Institute's award-winning IPM STAR program for schools, Green Shield Certified is available to pest control companies and services, as well as facilities other than schools.