Tips for Green Summer Pest Control

(ARA) – Living green doesn’t mean yielding your yard to birds, bugs and critters that can be both a nuisance and a health hazard. It’s possible to keep unwanted animal guests away from your gardens, landscaping, lawn and outdoor living areas without contributing to the groundwater contamination associated with many chemical pesticides.

With drought conditions expected to persist in many areas of the country, the issue of groundwater contamination is drawing plenty of attention. Many communities are moving to curb products – including pesticides and fertilizers – known to cause groundwater contamination. When it comes to protecting your property from common summer pests, non-lethal, all-natural methods that rely on sound, sight, taste deterrents and roost inhibitors not only protect the environment, they’re more effective as well.

“Green pest-control measures actually work better than lethal alternatives,” says Mona Zemsky, a technician and pest control expert with Bird-X, a company that specializes in products that help convince critters to take up residence elsewhere. “Killing birds and other nuisance animals is a losing proposition; you just create a vacuum that other animals will move into.”

So what green methods are most effective in ridding your landscape of unwelcome birds and animals? Here are some top options:

Scent/Taste

Another way to thwart pests is to convince them that an area is no longer safe or a good food source. For geese and birds, GooseChase and BirdShield use a food-grade derivative of concord grapes. Sprayed on grass and feeding areas, they safely and humanely make the spots unpalatable to birds and animals. The line of organic Scoot products use taste aversion – in the form of hot sauce and castor oil – to drive off pests like deer, squirrels and ground moles

Sound

Sonic and ultrasonic devices can drive off small rodents like mice, squirrels and raccoons, and common nuisance birds such as sparrows, crows and pigeons. Since ultrasonic devices are inaudible to humans, they don’t contribute to noise pollution. Sonic machines that project actual predator calls can also be effectiveA variety of devices are available that target specific pests. For example, Transonic PROtargets small animals and insects, and the Yard Gard can dissuade even deer. Effective bird-specific devices include the BirdXPeller PRO and the Ultrason X.

Sight

Farmers have used scarecrows for hundreds of years. Visual deterrents can be very effective in convincing many pests, birds especially, that an area is unsafe. The concept of the scarecrow has evolved, with devices – both low- and high-tech – that incorporate motion into the visual deterrent. On the low-tech end is an iridescent tape, easily hung outdoors, that unsettles birds with its fluttering motion and flashing colors. From a distance, the tape’s sheen mimics snake skin, further frightening bird invaders. On the high tech end, new devices use lasers to ward off birds. The Bird BLazer zaps harmless green lasers into birds’ roosting areas, creating a light show that most birds find unpleasant.

Roost Inhibitors

Birds will roost, nest, eat and defecate wherever they find an appealing spot, creating a nuisance and a health hazard. Convincing birds that a spot is no longer desirable is the optimum way to get rid of them – and prevent any more from moving in. Roost inhibitors accomplish this in a variety of ways. Some, like Bird-X’s spike strips (made of recycled materials) and a special netting, make it difficult for birds to land. Others, such as gels and liquids, make surfaces feel tacky and unappealing to birds, but cause no damage to the structures they’re applied to.

“These methods are not only green for the environment and human for the animals, they’re benign for humans as well,” Zemsky points out. “You won’t need rubber gloves to use them, they have no warning labels, you don’t need to store them in child-proof places or wonder what they might do to you after decades of exposure.”

To learn more about effective, environmentally safe, non-lethal bird control methods, visit www.Bird-X.com or call (800) 662-5021.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Solar Water Heating is Heating Up

Solar Water Heating is Heating Up

(ARA) – There’s another hot new trend in green homebuilding and remodeling. Advances in technology, coupled with rising energy prices, are resulting in growing interest in solar water-heating systems when green-minded consumers build or remodel homes.

“Five years ago, when oil prices hovered around $20 a barrel and the price at the pump was just above $1 a gallon, energy costs barely registered among Americans’ top concerns,” says Josh Plaisted, president of Kineo Design Group, a Berkley, Calif.-based engineering and consulting company that specializes in product design and development in the solar industry.

“Today, you will find high energy costs among the top five concerns of consumers,” he says. “Whether it’s natural gas, electricity or gasoline prices, energy weighs heavily on their minds, and they are clamoring for solutions.”

According to Plaisted, consumers can have the greatest impact on their energy costs by reconsidering how they heat their water. The average household spends about 25 percent of its home energy costs on heating water, he says, noting that solar water-heating offers homeowners not only a solution to rising energy costs, but also environmental benefits.

Solar water-heating was named one of the top 10 technologies for 2007 by Housing and Urban Development’s Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) Program.

The U.S. Department of Energy, in its EERE Consumer’s Guide, says that, “On average, if you install a solar water-heater, your water-heating bills should drop 50 to 80 percent. Also, because the sun is free, you’re protected from future fuel shortages and price hikes.”


VELUX America, the leading manufacturer of skylights in the United States, is introducing a solar hot water heating system here utilizing technology developed by the parent company in Denmark and proven through years of service in Europe.

Tim Miller, president of VELUX America, says that every solar water-heating system installed in America will help to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He points out that solar water-heating is another opportunity for individual homeowners to support the green movement while realizing benefits now and for years to come.

The cost of an installed system will vary depending upon the volume of heated water required in a home. Two to three rooftop solar collector panels will usually be installed and solar hot water holding tanks are available in 80 and 120-gallon sizes. An average installation is projected to cost around $7,500.

Federal tax credits can help pay 30 percent — up to $2,000 — for a system and some states and utilities offer additional support, resulting in credits that could offset up to half the cost. This, combined with savings on home energy bills, should result in an anticipated payback period of three to seven years in most areas depending on geographic location, utility rates and other factors.

The solar energy roof collectors look very much like low profile skylights and integrate well with rooflines. The collectors are certified by independent testing agencies in Europe (Solar Keymark) and in the United States (SRCC).

“Solar thermal water heating is not new to the United States – this country was the world leader in the industry following the energy crisis of the early 1980s,” says Jim Cika, manager, solar products, for VELUX. “However, in the mid to late 1980s, as the cost of energy suddenly sank to record lows, American consumers were once again enjoying cheap oil, federal and state tax subsidizes for solar water heaters were eliminated in the U.S., and the demand for solar systems came abruptly to an end.”

As the American market for solar water heating products was collapsing, Germany, Austria and other European countries continued to focus on product innovation, Cika says.

“European countries saw what was happening in the United States in the 1980s, took the technology and continued innovating,” he says, noting that the U.S. Department of Energy reports that 82 percent of all greenhouse gas emitted by human activity is energy-related carbon dioxide. “They made solar water heaters more energy efficient and more cost efficient. Twenty years later, Europe is a global leader in solar water heating technology, and now this technology is returning to the United States.”

For more information on the benefits of solar water heating, call (800) 283-2831 or visit veluxusa.com/solar.

Courtesy of ARAcontent