EcoSMART Bug Repellant – What bugs you?

Giveaway Alert! One lucky reader will win an EcoSMART Safe Home Value Bundle (Value $24).  Details following this post.   Giveaway closed.  ECO-ngratulations Milk Carton Manna (@Mannabsn).

Living in Florida I have encountered more bugs than I know what to do with.  Our specialty (so to speak) down here is Palmetto bugs.  Now, for anyone who doesn’t live in Florida, a Palmetto bug is a giant cockroach.  We just don’t like the name roach…Palmetto bug sounds so much nicer…but there is NOTHING nice about a Palmetto bug.  I don’t care how clean your home is I don’t know a home in Florida that doesn’t have a few Palmetto bugs residing inside.  Unfortunately they like to come out when 1) you have company over, or 2) at night right before you go to bed.  My skin is crawling just talking about them. 

Being a mom, especially a green mom, I hate spraying chemicals around my home.  My husband will spray a few times a year (usually right after I scream from seeing a really big one) but it still makes me nervous.  Lil’ B is at that age where everything is on the ground and everything goes into the mouth (including dog food and day old crumbs).  When EcoSMART approached me about doing a product review I was honest with them…I told them I don’t normally buy pesticides and I hate to use them.  BUT…I also hate Palmetto bugs. 

I got my bottle of EcoSMART Organic Home Pest Control in the mail and had to try it immediately.  Especially after I had just seen one of those nasty Palmettos in MY PANTRY!  I read over the label and here are some of the important facts that I noticed:

1. SAFE around children & pets 
2. Non-toxic
3. Made from a blend of organic plant oils
4. Exempt from registration under FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act)
5. Made in the USA (Alpharetta, GA actually…not far from my hometown!)
6. 100% FDA safe ingredients (that means you can use it around food!!)

They also list all of the ingredients on the back of the package.  Here is a sample of those ingredients: clove oil, rosemary oil, peppermint oil, thyme oil, water, octadecenoic acid potassium salt, lecithin, 2-phenethyl propionate.  Now chemistry was NOT my strongest subject in college so I’ll save the analysis for the experts.  

So I emptied my pantry (throwing away anything that was older than my baby!) and gave it a try.  Immediately I noticed that because of the plant based oils the EcoSMART product had a very strong smell.  It was a nice clean smell but it was strong.  If you are sensitive to clove/peppermint/thyme/rosemary you may want to leave the room for a few minutes.  I finished cleaning the pantry, reorganized (my best friend was so proud), and returned the food to it’s home. 

That’s was about three weeks ago.  I haven’t seen or heard anything in that area since spraying the EcoSMART.  I also used it in my bedroom where I had recently found a school of ants near my window (leaky old window seal).  The ants died immediately and haven’t returned either. 

After this past week and our most recent guests (a swarm of africanized honey bees) that took up residence on the outside of our home I’m sending my husband outside to spray around all the doors and windows.  PS…call the professionals if you notice a swarm of bees…these were the bad type and could have killed us if we tried to exterminate them ourselves.  Here is a cute picture of our little swarm.  They are now all residing in bee heaven!

 

Buy it!  If you are looking for safe pesticides and bug repellants try EcoSMART.  You can save 15% off and get free shipping on orders over $45 with coupon code ECOBLOGGER22.  Decide for yourself if EcoSMART is smart for your family. 

Win it!Win a Safe Home Value Bundle (value $24) here.  All you have to do is visit the EcoSMART website and tell me what your favorite product is.  Leave your comment below along with your name and email address. 

Extra entry:  The only extra entry for this contest is for my readers who use Twitter.  Follow me and tweet about this giveaway (max 2 per day entry).  Leave me a comment below with a link to your tweet.

Contest is open to residence of the USA over the age of 18 yrs.  Must have a valid email address to enter.  Contest will end on Friday, March 19th, 2010 (midnight EST). 

Giveaway ended!                  

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