Aim Higher: Green Pest Control Starts Here

Whether you’re pursuing LEED certification for your building or have your own sustainability goals you’re working toward, environmentally responsible pest control should be part of your plan.

What does green pest control mean at Orkin? It starts with our standard approach—Integrated Pest Management, or IPM—that focuses on helping prevent the conditions that attract pests in the first place. To enhance that program, we offer sustainable services and products that support efforts to lessen the environmental impact. Here are ways Orkin can help you lean green with your pest control program:

1. IPM: At Orkin, we use an IPM approach called A.I.M. to help prevent pest activity before it occurs. With A.I.M., we start by assessing the situation. We look at how pests might get in and what would help them thrive once they do. Then, we implement specific, proven solutions to close the gaps between pests and your building. After that, we monitor pest activity to ensure our strategy is working. IPM uses the “pests’-eye view” to minimize reliance on chemical control.

2. LEED Certification: Your pest control can help you work towards the benchmark for green buildings: the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™, by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). To obtain LEED certification, existing buildings must meet specific benchmarks and credits within several categories—and one of those categories is pest control. Work with us to create a written IPM plan—such as a checklist for your team—that earns you credits towards LEED certification.

3. Orkin Element™: Our comprehensive approach to environmentally responsible pest control, Orkin Element employs our IPM approach while earning you LEED credits towards certification. Developed with USGBC, this service meets all of the National Pest Management Association’s GreenPro qualifications. This is the most widely recognized certification available to companies in the pest management industry. It means that Orkin complies with a multitude of qualifications to ensure that you receive an appropriate and effective service every time.

4. Exclusion: Keeping your building in good repair by filling holes or gaps is a small task that can have big results. We call this service exclusion. But pests are opportunists, and they’ll take advantage of doors and windows as easily as slipping through cracks. Door sweeps—plus the good old-fashioned practice of keeping doors closed—can discourage pests from using the main entrance. And installing window screens means air can move in and out, but pests can’t.

5. Mosquito Control: Paired together, warm climates and standing water make a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes. But, more than just a nuisance to your customers, mosquitoes can transmit harmful diseases. While traditional mosquito treatments help control all mosquito species, the challenge is to target all life stages continually, while ensuring efficacy, which can be diminished between treatments by new shrub growth or other factors. The Orkin Eclipse™ service is a green way to both minimize current Aedes mosquito populations and prevent mosquitoes from multiplying. The Orkin Eclipse mosquito trap technology uses the mosquito itself to help spread treatment to other potential breeding areas, while also targeting Aedes larvae and pupae.

6. Staff Training: IPM works best when it’s a team effort. That means sharing these prevention efforts with your employees and establishing a protocol for when someone spots a pest. Staff trainings can set the stage for the teamwork you need to help maintain your green pest control efforts.
   
   

From starting a formal IPM plan to investing in Orkin Element™, an environmentally responsible approach to pest control is just another reason you can rely on Orkin. Reducing the environmental impact of your pest control efforts can help you meet your sustainability goals and prevent a pest problem later down the line. At Orkin, we see that as a win-win.