Bugs, Really?

Oct 30

The Smithsonian has documented that there are more than 900,000 different types of living insects that we know about. The article goes on to say that most authorities agree that there are more insect species that have not been described (i.e., named by science) than there are insect species that have been previously named. While many of these insects benefit the environment and our ecosystem, we don’t want them in or near our homes if we can help it. Whether you bag your trash or not, our trash bins are an excellent food source for cockroaches, flies, ants, and other pests. We pay for pest control and house cleaning services, then put our stinky, bug infested trash bins in our garages or near the house which can undo much of what these services are fixing.

Flies usually mean maggots, and ants usually means lots of ants, but many sources highlight how cockroaches are also considered to be dangerous as an allergen source and asthma trigger. The EPA warns that cockroaches carry bacteria that, if deposited on food, can cause salmonella, staphylococcus, and streptococcus. The WHO (World Health Organization) says that they are carriers of intestinal diseases such as dysentery, diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid fever.

We can now see how bad cockroaches are, but flies are just as gross. A study on flies collected from markets, food courts, hospitals, city parks, a landfill for household waste and farms with typical livestock found that houseflies are capable of transmitting at least 65 different diseases to humans, including some that are newly discovered. Think about all of the times that you’ve swatted that fly off of your hot dog at a cookout, smashed a fly on a window, or even fought a fly in your bedroom while you are trying to sleep. Think about all the places they’ve been; your trash bin may have been the last stop before landing on your face. We’re not saying we hate flies (but we’re not saying we don’t), we just wanted to remind you how gross they are and that if there’s a way to prevent them from laying eggs in our trash bins, it might be a good idea!

Ants in our area are mostly considered a nuisance as it relates to infestations and the little buggers getting into our homes. The most common ant that ends up in trash bins is feeding on scraps of food, or a spilled or broken drink bottle that made its way into the can. They find the food and call their friends, and the next thing you know there is a cafeteria line of ants marching their way to the trash bins for their next meal. Now you’ve got to figure out how to get rid of them, and there’s usually a lot of them. Ants are fairly easy to get rid of with simple pesticides and traps, but it’s just something that most of us would just rather not have to deal with. Preventing ants from marching up the side of your trash bins is the best way to avoid this nuisance. Eliminating their food source eliminates the need for pesticides.

This can be pretty scary and even sort of disgusting, but this isn’t meant to strike fear in you. The intention is to convey that we need to apply the same level of cleanliness in all aspects of our homes, including our trash bins. We mentioned in our article about germs how we are cross contaminating our trash bins with those of our neighbors as the waste haulers pick them up and dump them into their truck. This spreads bacteria and even insect eggs across the neighborhood.

Trash Can Cleaning

We can’t completely eliminate insects and germs from our lives, but there are a number of things that we can do to protect our families and pets from unnecessary exposure to these potentially harmful things. Regularly cleaning and sanitizing your trash bins and recycle bins is one of the best ways to remove the food source and begin the process of eliminating them from our living spaces.

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