The Power of Natural

Homemade Pesticides

Using chemical sprays to control pests has proven to have many seriously harmful damages on the natural environment and human health. Reversing damages to ecosystems, plant and animal species, water contamination, crop loss, and human health has cost billions.

However, there was a time when products like Roundup did not exist and people used more natural methods to control pests. Biological Control is the practice of using natural means to maintain pests and plants. There are natural ingredients that can be used as effectively as chemical pesticides but lack the harmful side affects. Using these alternatives can lower your contribution to environmental pollution and economic cost by decreasing the dependency on chemical pesticides.

 Here are a few of the many many mixes you can make to use for pest control. These options won't harm your family or pets! You can find more here

Pesticide	Ingredients	Instructions
Oil spray	Combine 1 tablespoon dish soap + 1 cup cooking oil, add 4 tsp soap and oil mix to 1 pint of water	Spray generously once every 7 days to control aphids, thrips, spider mites, and whiteflies
Baby shampoo spray	Combine 2 tablespoons baby shampoo with 1 gallon water	Spray generously and let sit for several hours before rinsing off with water. Do use the spray in the sun of on plants with hairy leaves
Garlic Spray	10-12 garlic cloves with 1 quart of water in a blender, allow to sit for 24 hours, then strain mixture through a cheesecloth into a jar and add 1 cup cooking oil. When ready to use combine ½ cup of garlic mix with 1 gallon water	Apply liberally to plants. The scent of garlic keeps many little pests away
Red pepper spray	Combine 1 tablespoon of red pepper powder, 6 drops of dish soap and 1 gallon of water. Mix thoroughly	Spray generously on plants for control of pests like leafhoppers, spittlebugs, beetles, and loopers
Salt spray	Combine 2 tablespoons salt with 1.5 gallons of warm water, allow to come to room temperature	Spray generously to control spider mites, caterpillars, cabbage worms, and chewing insects
Citrus spray	Boil 4 cups water, remove from heat, add 2 cups orange or lemon peel, let cool and strain.	Spray to repel white flies
Peppermint tea spray	Mix together 1 tablespoon peppermint essential oil with 1 quart water	Spray liberally, repels ants
Chrysanthemum flower tea	Boil 100 grams of dried chrysanthemum slower in 1 liter water for 20 minutes, strain and let cool	Spray generously. Chrysanthemum has a chemical component that attacks insect’s nervous system. Add organic neem oil for enhanced effectiveness.

The Best Things Take Time

The Best Things Take Time

The video above outlines a local tannery here in Oregon that has insisted on using old fashioned methods since their establishment in 1863. This process is called vegetable tanning and uses natural chemical compounds called tannins in place of the environmentally hazardous chromium salts. Muir and McDonald Tannery's primary product is steer leather-- which is used in the manufacturing of saddles. The company only produces about 60 hides a week due to the time that it takes to complete the natural tanning process. This is compared to commercial tanneries that have outputs near 50,000 hides a week. But there are several advantages to waiting the long 10 weeks:

1.     Use of natural products – This means that there are no harsh synthetic compounds, no potentially cancer-causing dyes or other artificial substances added. What you get are the deep, rich hues created by Mother Nature herself in the great outdoors.  And when you smell it, it smells like leather—not a chemical factory.

2.     Benefits of aging – Artificial tanning methods can cause leather to fade, crack, or even bleed after a short period of time, staining your garments and making frequent replacement or treatment necessary.  On the other hand, vegetable tanning is a gentle method that adds a lustrous patina to leather, and produces a soft and supple product that does not crack or harden.

3.     Truly unique characteristics – Some things, like aircraft wings or car keys, should come off the assembly line as close to the design specs as possible.  Others, however, suffer when subjected to such a one-size-fits-all approach.  Leather goods fall into this latter category. Impersonal tanning methods used in giant factories turn out millions of items in rapid succession, each of which is virtually identical to every other one.  But no two vegetable-tanned products are exactly alike.  There will always be some subtle variation in hue or tone that makes it truly one-of-a-kind.  This allows its owner to say that they have something no one else on earth has.

4.     Environmentally friendly practices – Modern industrial leather tanning methods uses highly toxic compounds that poison the earth and pollute streams and oceans. What makes this worse is that these methods are most commonly used in nations with few (if any) laws in place to protect the environment.  When these noxious chemicals are dumped on the ground or into water sources, they kill fish and wildlife, fill the atmosphere with deadly fumes, and eventually find their way to the air you breathe, the streams you fish in or drink from, and the creeks or swimming pools in which your children play. [S. Texas Saddlery]

To learn more about toxic tannery practices, alternatives like vegetable tanning, and more about the global leather industry's effect click to visit our site EcoPol: Leather