Household Solutions

• Use water-based detergents or citrus-based products
• Avoid products that contain methylene chloride

• Don’t use gasoline to clean auto parts; gas contains benzene and is highly flammable and also cancer causing

• Use equal parts vegetable oil and white vinegar
• Use small amount of mayonnaise on a soft cloth
• For wood floors, use oil and vinegar in equal parts

Brass

• Mix 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 cup white vinegar with enough flour to make a paste
• Apply thickly and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes 
• Rinse thoroughly with water to avoid corrosion

Copper

• Polish with a paste of lemon juice and salt

Silver

• Boil for 3 minutes in 1 qt. water with 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, and a piece of aluminum foil
• Or rub silver with a baking soda/water paste with a soft cloth; rinse and polish dry
• Or rub with toothpaste, rinse and dry with a soft cloth

• Start a back yard compost pile or worm bin . . . Call the Monterey Regional Waste Management District at (831) 384-5313 to learn how to get started
• Use organic amendments such as peat moss, blood meal, bone meal, horn and hoof meal, manure, fish emulsion, and seaweed

• Do not use toxic copper sulfate-based root killers, use a plumber’s "snake" instead
• Repair or replace lateral sewer lines to prevent root entry

• Introduce frogs, toads, and lizards into your yard
• Grow plants and flowers that attract beneficial insects such as green lacewings and lady bugs
• Use less toxic products first:
  • Diatomateous earth and silica gel
  • Horticultural oil sprays
  • Insecticidal soaps
  • Biological pesticides
• For severe infestations, use less toxic insecticides such as pyrethrin insect growth regulators

• Use copper barrier stripping (2 inches wide or more) mounted around raised planting beds to protect plants; snails won’t cross copper!
• Be sure to capture all snails/slugs already in the area and to bend sharp edges under to protect children and pets

• Spray with insecticidal soap:
  • Mix 1 tbs. dish soap/detergent and 1 cup vegetable oil
  • Add 1 tsp. of this mixture to 1 cup water and spray on aphids and mites
  • Oil may harm cabbage family plants
• Introduce green lacewings
• Control ants at the same time if seen in aphid-infested areas
• Don’t fertilize with high nitrogen fertilizer in the early spring—Aphids love new growth; use fish emulsion, a slow release fertilizer

• Use boric acid baits or hydramethylnon, which are less toxic than arsenic
• To prevent ants from climbing up plants, apply band to nursery tape, tin foil or plastic wrap around base of plant
• Destroy nests with either boiling water, insecticidal soap, a pyrethrin solution, or diatomaceous earth