When treating for ants or other pests one concern that many clients have is the safety of the products, especially in sensitive environments such as where pets and children are present. Green solutions, such as such as essential oils and inorganic dusts like boric acid have become alternative ant control solutions for many pest management professionals.
Some of the most commonly used green products include boric acid ant baits and essential oil-containing liquids, granules and dusts. Most essential oil-based products do not have long residual activity and work best as contact insecticides applied where pests are active. Inorganic dust products containing silica gel, diatomaceous earth and boric acid can provide extended residual activity.
Lange Griggs, owner of Alabama-based Spectrum Pest Management, said he likes to use baits and granule bait products because they are “about as green as you can be without being green.” He said that the only downfall of some of the green products is that they can have a strong odor, specifically botanicals.
Green products have proven to be a good fit for pest professionals whose clients are environmentally conscious. When offering such products, though, companies must be sure to communicate with customers the role they play in making green products work best.
“We just have to make sure that expectations and education is on a level playing field for all parties,” said Kyle Youngstrom of Joshua’s Pest Control, Kansas City.
One thing PMPs must communicate to customers is the increased length of time that green products may take to solve an ant issue. Pest professionals therefore must explain to customers what they should expect in terms of the amount of time to alleviate the ant issue.
It is also important for pest professionals to encourage customers who desire green ant control services to participate in reducing conducive conditions increased sanitation and exclusion practices, such as cleaning out gutters, cutting back trees and shrubs and maybe even power washing the house. This approach helps in long-term relief from ant invasions indoors.
“Those non-chemical tools become much more important when we talk about a ‘green’ program because focusing on that means that you prevent that problem from starting in the first place or prevent it from getting worse so they don’t have to go to some of the products that the customer may not necessarily want,” said Chelle Hartzer, consulting entomologist, 360 Pest and Food Safety Consulting.
A paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research discussed the “green consumption effect” in which consumers reported an increase in joy when told of a product’s environmental benefits. Therefore, with proper communication and tools, green ant control services can be both successful and satisfying for customers.
That being said, additional training and education may be needed for technicians to properly explain and provide green services to customers, which is why many pest professionals, including Griggs, charge more for them.
Youngstrom said, “It’s a pretty good balance of educating the customer and making sure that the technician is equipped with both: how to handle maybe some challenging questions, understanding why a customer may be interested in a green service and then using the best possible products out there.”