| Ever wonder how to control insects without | | | | downside, Diatomaceous Earth will kill all |
| using toxic, chemically-based insecticides? | | | | insects - even good ones - so it should be |
| Has it ever occurred to you that there is a | | | | used carefully! |
| very valid reason that you should vacate a | | | | |
| house when you spray Raid or "bomb" the place | | | | Diatomaceous Earth has little to no health |
| to get rid of the pests? Do you really think | | | | effects to humans or pets as long as it has |
| that the residue is completely gone once you | | | | not been treated for use in such things as |
| return? | | | | swimming pools - look for "Amorphous |
| | | | Freshwater Diatomaceous Earth" and a |
| Enter Diatomaceous Earth. Sounds like dirt or | | | | "silica-content" of less than 1.5% to ensure |
| dust, but in actuality it is a fossil | | | | that it is safe to use on pets or around |
| (another name for it is "Fossil Shell | | | | people or farm animals. |
| Flour"). It's made up of microscopic little | | | | |
| shells of diatoms, a one-celled type of | | | | In fact, Diatomaceous Earth is used in some |
| algae. These fossilized shells have tiny | | | | livestock feed to kill any bugs that might |
| little points, which puncture an insect's | | | | eat or ruin the feed before it can be fed to |
| exoskeleton and dry them up, killing them. | | | | the animals. Diatomaceous Earth is so safe, |
| In this way, Diatomaceous Earth is a | | | | the livestock just eats it with the food! It |
| mechanical insecticide, not a chemical one. | | | | actually can kill worms or parasites that |
| Because of this, insects cannot become immune | | | | live inside animals as well as the pests that |
| or resistant to Diatomaceous Earth. On the | | | | bother them on the outside. |