All pests, including cockroaches, mice, and rats, need food, water, and shelter to survive. Keep your home pest-free by storing food (including pet food) in pest-resistant containers, fixing leaks and sealing cracks in floors, walls, and ceilings, reducing the amount of clutter in your home, and storing garbage outside in a can with a lid. The use of pesticides indoors is dangerous for you and your children. Children who have been exposed to pesticides in their homes may have an increased risk of certain cancers than kids who have never been exposed to those chemicals.

 

If pests are already a problem, use non-toxic or safer pest control products, like bait traps, gels, boric acid, or glue traps instead of toxic chemicals and sprays. Bed bugs can be especially difficult critters. However, they are very sensitive to heat, and can therefore be removed by cleaning bedding, linens, curtains, and clothing in hot water and drying them on the highest dryer setting; they can likewise be vacuumed or sprayed with an alcohol mixture. It may take some time and effort, but there are ways to safely control bed bugs.