Commitment from Within: How Companies Are Investing in Green

As a whole, the pest management industry has embraced IPM practices and acknowledges that natural products have a place in IPM programs. Company leaders see the business potential and are investing time, effort and financial resources into making green options available to their customers. This is particularly true in the Midwest, where nearly half (45 percent) of respondents to the 2024 PCT State of the Naturals survey reported increasing green-related investments in at least one of the following: products, training, equipment, marketing and workforce.

Nationwide, 37 percent of PMPs have increased their green-related investments year-over-year, with some notable regional trends: In the Northeast, 35 percent of PMPs reported increasing their purchases of green products, and 22 percent reported increasing their purchases of equipment for applying green products. Those percentages compare with 25 and 12 percent, respectively, nationwide. In terms of training, about one in five PMPs in the Northeast (22 percent), Midwest (20 percent) and West (19 percent) invested more, while in the South, 13 percent did.

In separate but related investments, three out of four PMPs (76 percent) reported taking actions over the past year to make their operations greener. That’s a notable increase over 2023, when 66 percent said they had engaged in such activities. Increases were noted in each of these categories: going paperless (39 percent), offering green products/solutions (38 percent), using routing software (37 percent), reducing energy consumption (18 percent), conserving water (18 percent), and buying or leasing more fuel-efficient vehicles (17 percent).

GETTING EMPLOYEES ON BOARD. In companies that primarily use green products, employees are likely to understand and appreciate the reasons their company has made that choice. But service technicians who have been in pest management for many years and are now being asked to change how they do things to accommodate IPM practices and botanical product applications are sometimes less enthusiastic. Overall, just 40 percent of PMPs told PCT that their employees have expressed interest in using green products. That number edged up from 37 percent in 2023, but there’s still much room to grow.

What technicians need to understand, according to many pest management business leaders, is that green products aren’t just better for customers and the environment, but also often for the people who apply them every day. “Technicians’ exposure is much greater than that of a homeowner,” said Stephen Wheeler of PestPro. “We may only spray a few ounces in a home, but multiply that by 10 applications a day, and you’re looking at significant exposure.”

Investments in training can go a long way in helping employees understand the health and environmental benefits of greener solutions. There seems to also be a natural mindset evolution happening as younger generations take a more active role in steering their companies into the future. “Our younger technicians are definitely on board with green products,” said Toby Crowe of Compass Pest Management. “They have it figured out: We can get the control we want using products that are safe for customers, the environment and ourselves. What’s not to like about that?”