Eco-friendly ways to get insects out of your house

As the warmer months set in, so do insects and spiders into our homes. Here’s how to safely tackle pest control and move them on.

Pest control is almost part and parcel of an Aussie summer as no one wants to share their home with crawling, flying, or buzzing critters. 

But warmer weather typically sees an increase in insect activity as they are cold-blooded, meaning they are unable to regulate their own body temperature and depend on external conditions to stay alive.

While it can be tempting to reach for a can of insect repellent if you notice creepy-crawlies taking over your home, it’s worth remembering insects are an important part of our ecosystem and their numbers are declining. 

So is there a kinder way to remove your unwanted insects?

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Eco-friendly pest control to get insects out of your home

Manage food waste

Insects enter your house for a reason – food. 

Cleaning food scraps, and sealing bins on kitchen and benchtops will reduce the incentive for bugs to come inside.

“It is really important to find out why and how the pests got into the home or other area in the first place and try to stop re-invasion before controlling them,” University of Queensland senior research fellow Professor Andrew Hewitt says. 

Remove insect breeding grounds

Stagnant water is a potential breeding site for most insects, so empty or drain any bodies of still water you may have around the home.

Let them follow the light

Insects are naturally attracted to bright light, so setting up an artificial source of light outside your home can redirect bugs from coming inside. 

Natural repellents

Citronella – a product of lemongrass – can work as an insect repellent, masking scents that can be attractive to bugs. 

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What about chemical pest control?

Chemical treatments remain the most common method of pest control to remove unwanted insects in the house. 

“(The) results may be faster and relatively low cost compared to some other control methods,” Professor Hewitt says.

While chemicals are effective, high levels of pesticides can be harmful to humans.

“A lot of the typical sprays that you can buy from hardware stores or supermarkets have got neurotoxic chemicals that act on the nervous system of insects, and they act on sites in the nervous system of insects that are exactly the same as those sights in our nervous system,” University of Queensland School of Biological Sciences Professor Michael Furlong says. 

“They are toxic to us as well, it’s just we’re not as susceptible because we’re bigger.”

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority recommends understanding labelling and information on domestic pest-control products. 

Some important things to look at in a product include: 

• “How to apply” columns.
• “Limitations on use” statements.
• “Precautionary “ statements.

Written by Gabriela Fannia.