Hearts Pest Management Earns EcoWise Certification

SAN DIEGO — Hearts Pest Management, Inc., which services San Diego and Riverside counties, recently became the first non-Bay Area pest control company to become EcoWise Certified. EcoWise Certified is an independent, third-party certification program that distinguishes knowledgeable, leading-edge licensed pest management professionals who practice prevention-based pest control. EcoWise Certified practitioners employ a variety of common sense techniques to control pests effectively, minimizing the use of pesticides.

EcoWise Certified is a project of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), which also sponsors the Bay Area Green Business Program. EcoWise Certified was founded in partnership with the Bio-Integral Resource Center, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Sacramento Stormwater Quality Partnership. Together, these organizations worked with a broad array of stakeholders from local government, the pest management industry, business owners and non-profit organizations to develop the program.

To become EcoWise-certified professionals must pass a rigorous exam and field audit to demonstrate expertise in prevention-based pest control practices. They use their knowledge of how pests live, feed, reproduce and move to effectively solve pest problems.

“IPM. and environmental consciousness are very important pillars for public support, employee pride and commercial success,” said Hearts Pest Management President Gerry Weitz. “These methods and thought processes need to take an increased prominence in the industry, over and above the freedom of use and possible abuse, of chemicals and techniques that have been acceptable to segments of the industry for many years. That is not to say that there is a time and a place for a wide variety of methods and chemistries. But we need to be thinking and acting as environmental stewards in all that we do.”

Weitz purchased Hearts Pest Management in 2002 and the company has shown steady growth the past five years. In 2006, the company relocated to a larger facility in Rancho Bernardo, California, doubling call center capacity and with instant access to major highways to improve customer response times.