There are two ways to protect yourself from mosquitoes: reduce the number of mosquitoes in your area, and reduce your chances of being bitten.

REDUCE BREEDING

Mosquitoes breed anywhere there is standing water. The key to reducing mosquito populations is to limit the places where they can reproduce.

* Empty standing pools of water. Especially after it rains, keep an eye out for standing pools of water that provide perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Those include baby pools, watering cans, old tires, gutters and drains, buckets, and pretty much anything else that can trap water long enough for a mosquito to lay its eggs.

* Keep water moving in ponds and fountains. Use a small pump to keep water circulating, or put some fish or frogs in the pond to eat up mosquito larvae. Here’s a picture of the pond in my front yard, with the pump sitting right in the middle. (We used to keep fish in the pond, but the neighbor’s dog kept jumping in and stirring things up; the poor fish had a hard time surviving among four paws and a tail!).

* Fill in ditches, trenches and ruts. Like pools and ponds, ditches and ruts also collect water and turn into breeding swamps. Fill them in with gravel or dirt, or drain them into a larger pond where the water can circulate.

* Set traps. Traps lure mosquitoes into an inescapable container, where they lay their eggs and then die when they can’t escape. My neighbors and I use these Oak Stump Traps by Springstar to good effect. If you can get several neighbors to use the traps, you get more control throughout the neighborhood. Traps are more effective than electric bug zappers, and use less energy, too.

* Attract animals and other insects that eat mosquitoes. Bats and birds are famous for eating millions of mosquitos, but so do dragonflies. Put up bat bird houses to provide more nesting areas for these friendly creatures, and plant flower gardens to attract dragonflies.

REDUCE BITING

1) First, cover up. The less skin you expose, the less likely you are to get bitten. If you’re working in your garden, mowing your lawn, watering your bushes, or hiking in the woods, wear shoes, socks, lightweight pants, a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt with a collar, and a hat. If you’re sitting on the porch or at an outdoor event and don’t want to wear long pants or long sleeves, drape a light-weight shawl or scarf over your legs or arms. As much as possible, spray your clothes, not your skin (and launder when you get in the house).

2) Light citronella candles or run a small fan when you’re sitting outside. You may still need to squirt bug spray on your ankles and legs, but the candles will emit an aroma that helps keep mosquitoes away from your arms and face. The more candles, the better. A small rotating fan will create enough of a breeze to blow mosquitos away while you’re on your porch or patio.

3) If you’re the do-it-yourself type, pick up a bottle of an essential oil like eucalyptus, lavender, citronella, or geraniol, or try some combination. Get a 4- or 6-ounce pump bottle; add somewhere between 10 and 20 drops of each oil to a couple of ounces of water or rubbing alcohol and shake well. Spray on exposed skin, always avoiding your face. (Pay attention: some herbal oils may irritate the skin. Find one that works for you. I found lavender oil and vanilla worked well for me, which I wrote about here.)

4) Try one of the herbal repellents available in most grocery, hardware, and gardening stores, or order online. They generally cost about the same as conventional, pesticide-based sprays. Consumer Reports analyzed the effectiveness of various bug sprays, and found that Repel, which relies on lemon and eucalyptus to deter bites, is just as effective as brands that contain more toxic chemicals. (We sell Repel in our Amazon store here.)

5) If you feel you must use something stronger than essential oils, choose a product containing Picaridin, which does not seem to irritate the skin the same way DEET does. Always use the lowest concentration that will work for you. Here’s why you should never use DEET or other pesticides on infants or children. If you need a sunscreen as well as a repellent, apply them separately, rather than use one product that contains both, as the sunscreen may contain a more potent repellent than what you might normally use. Wash your hands immediately after applying.

You can find more non-toxic mosquito repellents and traps in our Amazon store here. And please, let us know what works for you!

(Disclosure: We earn a tiny commission on our Amazon store sales, which helps us continue to maintain our blog at no cost to you.)

The post Simple, Non-Toxic Ways to Protect Yourself from West Nile Virus appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Do you hate mosquitos? Who doesn’t? But just hating them won’t make them go away. One way to keep them at bay is to use a good but non-toxic to humans repellent; I list some options below. But it also helps to trap them, which is why I want you to know about a terrific eco-friendly mosquito trap that is inexpensive, painless to people and the planet, and effective.

By the way, don’t waste your money buying electric bug zappers or battery-powered insect traps. They don’t actually prevent mosquitos from breeding, and they’re pretty intrusive – who wants to sit on the porch on a nice summer night and hear “zzzz” every time a bug gets electrocuted?

This simple mosquito trap is a more eco-friendly option. Just put a few cups of rain, ditch or pond water in the jar and add the powdered bait that comes with the trap. The mosquitos will lay their eggs in the water; once they go in the jar, they can’t get out. Both the mosquitos and the larva that hatch will be trapped forever.

For best results, position a trap every 10 feet or so around the perimeter of your porch or patio, using at least two traps. Don’t put the traps near where you usually sit or picnic, as the jars do lure mosquitos in before they trap them.

What else can you do to reduce mosquitos in an eco-friendly way?

1) Eliminate all standing water. Dump water from trays and dishes potted plants sit in. After any rain, take a walk around the porch, patio or yard and dump out any water; mosquitos can breed in less than a cupful of liquid, so dump it all out!

2) Check roof gutters and downspouts, too. If they’ve gotten clogged, water could pool behind them, providing a great hiding place for breeding mosquitos.

3) Keep pond water moving. Mosquitos need still water to breed; if you have a pond or fountain, use a small pump to make sure the water is continuously moving. You could also keep goldfish in the pond to eat up mosquitos that hover overhead or lay larva in the water.

4) Light candles. On my porch in the evenings, I also light citronella candles. The traps and candles combined have reduced my mosquito problems significantly. However, please note: citronella candles really only work when there’s very little breeze.

5) Wear protective clothing. Mosquitos are at their worst at dawn and dusk. If you need to be out in your yard early in the morning or when evening falls, wear collared shirts with long sleeves, long pants, socks and shoes rather than sandals, and even a hat.

6) Use mosquito repellent that’s safe for you and other wildlife, too. Some insect repellents contain harsh toxic chemicals you really don’t want to put on your skin.  Here are a few we recommend.

RELATED POSTS   DEET-free Mosquito Repellents That Work

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Most conventional mosquito repellents contain DEET, a chemical that is toxic to a variety of flying and biting insects and has raised questions about its safety for people. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) analysed human health consequences from DEET exposure and found that the most problems occurred when DEET was applied in high concentrations and left on the skin rather than washed off.

However, the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia recommends consumers choose botanically-based repellents rather than DEET unless they face serious health threats from something like West Nile Virus. Reports the agency, DEET is “a member of the toluene chemical family. Toluene is an organic solvent used in rubber and plastic cements and paint removers. DEET is absorbed through the skin and passes into the blood. The Medical Sciences Bulletin, published by Pharmaceutical Information Associates Ltd. reports, “Up to 56% of DEET applied topically penetrates intact human skin and 17% is absorbed into the bloodstream.” Blood concentrations of about 3 mg per litre have been reported several hours after DEET repellent was applied to skin in the prescribed fashion. DEET is also absorbed by the gut.”

DEET may also negatively impact the central nervous system and cause serious skin rashes, says the association. For all of these reasons, Health Canada has banned products containing a 30% or higher concentration of DEET. Also banned are 2-in-1 products, like sunscreen that includes DEET.

DEET-Free Alternatives

The safer alternatives contain some combination of essential oils and another liquid, like rubbing alcohol, to make it easy to spread or spray on. The most common essential oils used in repellents seem to be citronella, lavender, geraniol (a derivative of the geranium plant), eucalyptus, lemongrass, mint, rosemary and thyme. There are many prepared options available in stores and online. Or you can make your own.

I decided to try Burt’s Bees, essential lavender oil, vanilla extract out of my pantry, and DEET-based Cutter. I’ve used Buzz Away in the past, and found that it worked for about a half an hour at a time, so didn’t re-test it this time around.

I sprayed one leg with Burt’s Bees and the other leg with Cutter, which contains 21.85% DEET. I rubbed about a half-teaspoon of vanilla extract on my left arm, and dotted my right arm with the lavender essential oil. Then I went down to my garden to test the effectiveness of each of these four repellents.

Amazingly, the mosquitoes swarmed to the leg that was sprayed with Burt’s Bees (see left – somewhat blurry picture of mosquito biting my leg).

Nothing at all alit anywhere else (see protected arm, left). So, on the herbal side, at least for me, vanilla extract and essential oil of lavender worked as well at keeping biting bugs at bay as did the Cutter, and far better than Burt’s Bees.

To get more recommendations, I polled members of the Green Moms Carnival.

Jenn of The Green Parent said, “I use California Baby Citronella Summer Lotion.  My youngest gets really bad bug bites but just a little dab of this lotion and she remains bite-free all nite.”

Lisa of Condo Blues said “I use EcoSmart insect repellent and it works great! During our family reunion, one family used Off and obviously mine used EcoSmart. The active ingredients are wintergreen oil and rosemary oil. It kept the bugs away and everyone who used my insect repellent liked it better because it smells better than Off.” Lisa also recommends Happy Critters Farm Natural Bug Spray if you don’t mind the smell of citronella.

The last time Beth of Fake Plastic Fish went camping, she used All Terrain Herbal Armor, another DEET-free solution consisting of various essential oils like citronella, geranium and lemongrass. (NOTE: This solution did not spray out of the several bottles I tried in the store. If you don’t mind spreading it on rather than spraying it, it could work for you.)

Anna of Green Talk usesShoo Fly by Bioganic.

Karen of Best of Mother Earth is also trying out vanilla extract.

Thistle Farms is another company selling an herbal-based insect repellent. Added bonus: the farm is being managed by women who have survived drug use and prostitution and are making a new life for themselves working to develop and market natural products.

NOTE: YOU CAN BUY MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS ON OUR AMAZON STORE.

My recommendations?

1) First, cover up. The less skin you expose, the less likely you are to get bitten. If you’re working in your garden or hiking in the woods, wear shoes, socks, lightweight pants, a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt with a collar, and a hat. If you’re sitting on the porch or at an outdoor event and don’t want to wear long pants or long sleeves, drape a light-weight shawl or scarf over your legs or arms. If the bugs are really vicious, spray your clothes, not your skin (and launder when you get in the house). Another advantage of protecting your skin? You won’t need to apply sun screen.

2) Light citronella candles when you’re sitting outside. You will probably still need to squirt bug spray on your ankles and legs, but the candles will emit an aroma that helps keep mosquitoes away from your arms and face. The more candles, the better.

3) If you’re the do-it-yourself type, pick up a bottle of an essential oil like eucalyptus, lavender, citronella, or geraniol, or try some combination. Get a 4- or 6-ounce pump bottle; add somewhere between 10 and 20 drops of oil to several ounces of water and shake well. Spray on exposed skin, always avoiding your face. Alternatively, mix a vegetable oil like coconut oil with essential oil, using no more than 2% essential oil; then rub on exposed skin. (NOTE: DO NOT USE ESSENTIAL OILS WITHOUT DILUTING THEM FIRST, AS THEY CAN IRRITATE THE SKIN. Always dilute in a fragrance-free lotion, a vegetable oil like coconut oil, or even water.)

4) Try one of the herbal repellents available in most grocery, hardware, and gardening stores, or order online. They generally cost about the same as conventional, pesticide-based sprays. If you don’t see a botanically-based option, ask for one.

5) If you feel you must use something stronger than essential oils, choose a product containing Picaridin, which does not seem to irritate the skin the same way DEET does. Always use the lowest concentration that will work for you. Never use DEET or other pesticides on infants or children; especially avoid sunscreens that also contain insect repellents. Wash your hands immediately after applying.

Buy DEET-free insect repellents here.

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