Preventing dreaded wood boring pests

Mariam Ellman, a senior scientist with the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) says, “People have a knee jerk reaction, when first spotting an [insect] pest. Often, they reach for the poison, without considering the fallout.” Since the end of World War II, common household insecticides have grown into a one billion dollar plus annual business. There are poisons on the market to control everything from ants, to bees, all the way down to termites. Though, in recent years, we’ve learned that not only are insecticides dangerous for a home’s occupants, (the average American has 43 different poisons in their bloodstream, according to NRDC) they often aren’t as effective as previously thought.